Channel: PDF visuals

Category: Film & Animation

Tags: 108 divyadesamyoga narasimhamandya districtsrirangapatnahistory of melukote in kannadayoga narasimha templemelkote historymelukotemysore tourismmelkote cheluvanarayana swamymelukote cheluvarayaswamy templekalyani melukotekarnataka tourismbjpyoga narasimha swamy templemelukote cheluvarayaswamymelkotemandya tourismvaishnavismmelkote templerayagopuradhanushkoti melkotepdf visuals108 divya desamsrirangapatna templetipu sultan

Description: Dark Deepavali of Melkote and Tipu sultan 200 years ago….During the reign of Tipu Sultan towards the last phase of the 18th century, a tragedy followed by gloom, struck on the evening of Deepavali - Hindu festival of lights. Hell's gate was broken wide open when Tipu's army raided on a congregation of 700 Mandyam Ayyangars at Narashimhaswamy temple on the banks of Cauvery at Srirangaptna town, capital of Tipu Sultan. With razor-sharp swords in their hands, the rampaging soldiers made the unexpected, bewildered and frightened crowd run fearing for their lives. In the wake of this unprovoked raid on innocent, quiet people, there was a trail of destruction, chaos and killing no body ever saw in this part before. In a jiff, an occasion of joy and fun turned into one filled with crying, wailing and weeping over the dead and severely injured. The Sultan's army had just committed massacre - the worst one on the soil of what is now called Mandya district of Karnataka. When Hyder Ali captured the throne of Mysore in a treacherous way from Immadi Krishnaraja Wodeyar II, the royal family of Mysore was kept under house arrest. But the queen of Wodeyar, Lakshmi Ammani Devi constantly made efforts for restoration of the rule of Mysore royal family after looking at various atrocities committed on the hindu population by the government. She started negotiating with the british in 1760s with the help of her Pradhan, Tirumala Iyengar which resulted in the imprisonment of relatives of Tirumala Iyengar by Hyder Ali. These people were called as Mandyam Iyengars and they lived between Mandya and Srirangapatnam area, mainly in Melkote. The Mandyam Iyengers were masters of Sanskrit. They spoke a distinct dialect of Tamil called Mandyam Tamil. Tipu Sultan ruled his kingdom only for about sixteen years, from December 29, 1782 to May 4, 1799. The territory of Malabar was under his effective control only for a short period of eight years. His Divan by the name Purnaiyya had managed to gather some 90,000 soldiers, 3 crore rupees, and huge quantities of gold ornaments and precious stones from the Hindu population for Tipu. Seeing this wealth Tipu wanted to rule South India and wanted to become an Emperor of India. Tipu had to defeat the British first to become an emperor. For this purpose, Tipu consulted many Hindu astrologers in Sri Ranganatha Swami temple at Srirangapatnam. These astrologers did not see Tipu becoming an emperor, but suggested that if some of the remedial Hindu rituals were performed; he could achieve his cherished ambition. Believing these sayings of the astrologers, Tipu performed all Hindu pujas in the Sri Ranaganatha Swami temple as suggested by the astrologers. This act is being widely interpreted by leftist and minority historians as the love and respect for Hindu religion and traditions by Tipu. But there is a long list of Hindu temples that were desecrated and razed down by Tipu and his army in South India mainly in Kodagu and Malabar. On the eve of his death there were only two Hindu temples left standing with in the Srirangapatanam fortress. After Hyder’s death and tipu sultan becoming king , the Queen intensified her efforts to place a Wodeyar back on the throne of Mysore. When news of the Queen interacting with the British with help from Shamaiah Iyengar reached Tipu, he decided to take revenge. The agreement signed between the British General Harris of Madras and Tirumala iyengar further infuriated Tipu. Tipu ordered his troops to round up all Mandyam Iyengars of Melkote, many of whom were relatives and friends of Tirumala iyengar, and he massacred them in cold blood. The slaughter was on the day when the Mandyam Iyengars were getting ready to celebrate Naraka Chaturdashi. The celebrations turned into mourning. The cruelty inflicted on the innocents has parallel only to the christian Nazi concentration camps of the second world war. The slaughter literally led to the death of Melkote. All people abandoned the temple city and it soon turned into a ghost town. The 29 Kalyanis in Melkote went to dust, water shortage became endemic and the hills browned and ……. Sanskrit lost a home. To this day, the Mandyam Iyengars of Melkote do not celebrate Deepavali. Unfortunately, there is no mention of the despicable incident in any history book, but even now local folklore and a few accounts of the horrifying event still exist. The Karnataka Brahmins belonging to community of the Mandyam Iyengars of Bharadwaja gothra observe Deepavali as a Dark Day Pramod Desaneni