Tipu's Summer Palace

Tipu's Summer Palace Tipu's Summer Palace is one of summer retreats built by Tipu Sultan in 1791. The Summer Palace is a two-storied ornate wooden structure with pillars, and arches and balconies.  The palace is flanked by gardens on either sides of the pathway leading to the palace. 

Tipu Sultan's Palace close to the fort is now a museum. The palace was started by Hyder Ali and completed by Tipu Sultan in 1791 after ten years of painstaking construction.

The eastern and western projecting balconies of the upper floor contained the seat of state from where Tipu conducted affairs of the state. An inscription on the wooden screen describes the palace as the "Abode of Happiness".

Tipu Sultan's Summer Palace (open daily 9 am to 5 pm), built towards the end of the 18th century entirely from timber, and is a relic in a city committed more to progress than to preservation.

It has a somewhat sophomoric exhibition with extensive text about Tipu's life and military conquests as well as those of his father, Hyder Ali Khan.

Next door is an enormously active 17th-century Kote Venkateshwara Temple, built by the Wodeyar kings; and just north are the ruins of Bangalore (Bengaluru) Fort, largely destroyed during the Anglo-Mysore War.

Bangalore Fort

Bangalore FortSurrounding the Tipu's Summer Palace is the Bangalore Fort built by Tipu Sultan in the 18^th Century. Only parts of the fortress now remain, standing as mute testimony to the struggle Tipu Sultan had against the British domination.

The fort is noted for its beautifully carved arches in Islamic style and for the well preserved Ganapati temple.

The fort was originally built by Kempe Gowda in 1537. It was later extended and fortified by Tipu Sultan. Hyder Ali, Tipu's father had imprisoned David Baird along with a number of British army officers here.

Return to Places to See in Bangalore or Go to Karnataka Holiday Guide