The story of the toy tiger

Among the many legendary treasures of Tipu Sultan is the toy tiger mauling a British soldier.

Tipu Sultan (1782-1799), the rules of Mysore, had a visceral hatred of he British. He did everything he could from building an army, seeking French assistance to trying to stitch an anti-British alliance.

Tipu was continuously at war with the British and nothing gave him more happiness than having them at his mercy. His dungeons in his capital of Srirangapatna were filled up with British prisoners of war.

After Tipu was killed in the fourth and final Anglo-Mysore war in Srirangapatna on May 4, 1799, many of his treasures and fabulous wealth fell into the hands of the British who lost no time in plundering them. Contemporary accounts of the day after Tipu was killed tell us how mercilessly the British behaved with the residents of Srirangapatna and how they pillaged the city, stripping it of every conceivable article.

Of course, the first structure to bear the brunt of the greedy British army and its hired mercenaries was Lal Mahal, the magnificent palace of Tipu which today is in ruins, his store room, armoury, library and private quarters.

One of the innumerable articles that the British shipped back home from Srirangapatna was Tipu’s Tiger.

The Tipu Tiger is a toy that Tipu specifically had it built. It is a wooden tiger mauling a British soldier. The toy has a miniature mechanical organ and when pressed, it begins to emit the roar of the tiger, punctuated with the  groans of a Britisher being killed.

The road comes from the body of the tiger and a row of keys of natural notes are embedded within the British soldier.  The sounds produced by the organ  resemble the cries of a person in distress which is juxtaposed with the roar of a tiger.  The machinery is so contrived, that while the organ is playing, the head of the European is often lifted up, to express his helpless and deplorable condition. 
There is a story that Tipu Sultan had this toy made after the death of Lieutenant Munro — the son of General Sir Hector Munro, who had defeated Tipu in many battles. The idea of making such a tiger took shape when one of Tipu’s courtiers told how Munro’s son had been killed by a tiger in the Sundarbans (Bengal).

Tipu discussed the idea of a mechanical toy of a Tiger mauling a British soldier with his French engineers working in his munition factory in  Srirangapatna.

The organs which can reproduce the roars of a tiger and shrieks of human beings were made in France. Tipu kept the toy in his Rag Mahal or room for music.

After Tipu dies, the British came across the toy and informed the Board of Directors of East Indian Company who then asked for it to be sent to their head office in London.

The tiger elicited lot of interest and curiosity among the British and the famous romantic British poet John Keats has made a reference to Tippoo’s Tiger in one of his poems.

Initially, the Directors of the East India Company kept the toy  in the company museum in the East India House, but, when the company was wound up and political power transferred to the Government in 1858, it was shifted to the new India office where it remained until 1874. Later, the tiger was stationed at what later came to be known as the Indian section of the Victoria and Albert Museum.
The toy is at present a prized exhibit of the museum and lakhs who visit the museum cannot help but admire the spirit and determination of the Tiger of Mysore, as Tipu was known .

The Vajra Musti Kalaga

There have been several queries on Vajra Musti Kalaga. Several people have either written or called to find out how the sport is played and whether they can learn it.

Well, here are some details and we hope it will be of some help.

The Vajra Musti Kalaga is a sport played in Mysore only during Dassara and that too only within the confines of the Mysore Palace.

The name of the sport has its origin in Sanskrit. The Vajra Musti refers to a knuckleduster-like weapon. It also means the weapon which is employed in this unique forms of wrestling. The weapon is called by many names such as ayudha, bhukhandi or Indra-mukti which means Indira’s fist.

The Vajramusti is usually made of ivory or buffalo horn. Its appearance is that of a knuckleduster, slightly pointed at the sides and with small spikes at the knuckles. The variation used for warfare had long blades protruding from each end, and an elaborate bladed knuckle.

The Vajramusti is a fierce mode of  wrestling where the combatants wear the Ayudha or Vajramusti on their right hand. This weapon has several small holes along its length, so it can be tied onto the hand with a thread. This is to ensure that it cannot be  dislodged during the fight.

A weapon similar to the Vajramushti was also used by ancient Greek and Roman boxers and Pancrationists. They called it the Cestus and this was a ring, usually made of bronze, worn around the knuckles.

The first mention of vajra musti is in Manasollasa, a reference work, of the Chalukya Emperor Someswara III (1124–1138). However, history tells us that Vajra Musti was practiced even during the times of Mauryas.

The first English account of Vajra Musti is given by James Scurry (1766–1822), a British soldier and memoirist. He was captured by Hyder Ali and imprisoned in Srirangapatna for ten years from 1780.

After his release in 1790, he reached an English camp. He then prepared a narrative of his captivity in 1794, but it was published in 1824, after his death.

This work is called “The captivity, sufferings, and escape of James Scurry”. In one of the chapters, he describes the Vajra Musti thus: “The Jetti’s would be sent for, who always approached with their masters at their head, and, after prostration, and making their grand salams, touching the ground each time, they would be paired, one school against another. They had on their right hands the wood-guamootie -vajra-musti- of four steel talons, which were fixed to each back joint of their fingers, and had a terrific appearance when their fists were closed. Their heads were close shaved, their bodies oiled, and they wore only a pair of short drawers. On being matched, and the signal given from Tippu, they begin the combat, always by throwing the flowers, which they wear round their necks, in each other’s faces; watching an opportunity for striking with the right hand, on which they wore this mischievous weapon which never failed lacerating the flesh, and drawing blood most copiously. Some pairs would close instantly, and no matter which was under, for the gripe was the whole; they were in general taught to suit their holds to their opponent’s body, with every part of which, as far as concerned them, they were well acquainted. If one got a hold against which his antagonist could not guard, he would be the conqueror; they would frequently break each other’s legs and arms”.

After Tipu died in 1799, the Wodeyar Kings of Mysore continued patronising it. Over decades, it slowly lost out to other sports and was restricted to the royalty. It then became an integral part of the Dasara and came to be reduced as a ritual.

The Kalaga now precedes the Jumbo Savari on Vijaya Dashami and it is personally inaugurated by the Maharajas of Mysore. After the last Maharaja, Jayachamarajendra Wodeyar, died, it was his son, Srikantadatta Narasimnharaja Wodeyar who inaugurated this ancient sport in the palace courtyard.    

The sport commences on Vijaya Dashami and it takes place at the Savari Thotti, the courtyard in the Mysore palace. The Jumboo Savari procession commences immediately after this ritual.

This year, that is 2013, the Vajra Musti Kalaga began with Yuvaraja, Srikantadatta Narasimharaja Wodeyar, performing pooje between 9.15 a.m., and 9.25 a.m., in the auspicious Vrischika lagna.

The palace priests, Narasimha Sharma and Manjunath Sharma, chanted the slokas after which the Kalaga or fight between Jetties commenced at 9.50 am.

This year, for jetties participated in the contest. Narayana Jetty from Bangalore, Vijaykumar Jetty from Mysore, Anil Jetty from Channapatna and Shamanth Kumar Jetty from Chamarajanagar.

The contest is stooped even as the first blood spills. Narayana Jetty

drew the first blood by pinning down Mysore’s Vijay Kumar Jetty.  Srikantadatta Wodeyar then pierced a pumpkin with a dagger,

signaling the commencement of Vijaya Yatre or victory parade.

Senior jetties Srinivas Jetty and Tiger Balaji were the referees of the the bout.

By the way, R Vijaykumar Jetti is an autorickshaw driver from Mysore. You can ask his address at the Mysore Palace office or any autorickshaw driver hailing from Mysore.

Last year, Manjunath Jetty, a KSRTC driver, had represented Mysore and had won the bout. The KSRTC officials will have details about him, if not the conductors and drivers. 

Even today, members of the Jetty or Jetti community are found in large numbers in Mysore, Chamarajanagara, Channapatna and Bangalore. They originally hailed from Delmal in Gujarat but migrated to Vijayanagar first and Mysore next when they saw that the Mysore Kingdoms –of Hyder, Tipu and Wodeyars-patronised wrestling.

History tells us that the first migration of the Jettys from Gujarat was in the 11th century when the Hoysalas ruled Mysore.

If you want more details abpout jettys and their art, you can contact M.R. Madhava, son of M.R. Sudarshan of the Jetty family, who lives in Mysore.

The family of  Madhava is synonymous with the vajra mushti kalaga. They trace their fighting skills to the times of Tipu Sultan. When Kari Jatappa, great great grandfather of Madhava, was a Raja Vastadi or royal courtier. Another well-known Vajra musti exponent in this family is Rama Jattappa who was patronised by  Mummudi Krishnaraja Wodeyar.

Rama Jatappa was considered to be invincible and people treated him with a lot of respect. They would say “Aakashakke eeni ella, Rama Jatappange kustili sati ella” (Just as there is no ladder to the sky, there is no equal to Rama Jatappa). Another wrestler in the family was M.R. Jatappa who supplied agarbattis to the palace durbar. It was famous all over India. His son was M.R.  Sudarshan, who was conferred the title Mr. Body Builder Mysore and with Mr. Olympics in Madras.

Tiger Balaji, the referee is one of the five sons of  M R. Sudarsha. The other brothers of Tiger Balaji are Ramji, Basavanna, Arvind and Madhav. All five were experts in wrestling and M.R. Madhava specialised in Varja Musti.

Now coming to the contact details, in case anyone is interested in getting more details about the sport or the participants, please check with the Mysore Palace Board. This board is in charge of the Mysore Palace and is involved in its day to day running. If you fail to get information here, you can contact the office of  the late Srikantadatta Wodeyar and we are sure they will be happy to help you out.  

There are many akhadas or wrestling houses in Bangalore and Mysore and they will be able to give you more details. If you still fail to gather information, check out with the Karnataka Wrestling Federation. They should be having some information. If all this fails, head straight to Mysore, talk to the auto drivers and ask them to take you to the house of  Madhava or any other Jetty.

When freedom came a month later

As India celebrated its Independence and the Government machinery goes overboard in “tomtomming” its achievements, there are scores of monuments and areas that saw a vital role in the freedom movement of the country. Almost all these places and areas have either been forgotten or they have been given short shrift by the powers that be.

Let us begin this post with Mysore City.

Mysore City it is as it was here that the first steps leading to the freedom movements was launched. Mysore then was the capital of the Mysore Kingdom ruled by the Wodeyars and  though the freedom movement was late in coming, it did start off in the Royal city.

The dry tank bed of Subbarayana Kere was the hotbed of the freedom movement and the Anantalaya founded by Venkatakrishnaiah was where a host of freedom fighters met regularly to chalk out their course of action. Another area in Mysore which remind us of the freedom movement is the Ramaswamy Circle.

If it is at Subbarayanakere that the tricolour was first hoisted after India gained Independence, it is at Ramaswamy Circle that the Mysore Chalo agitation commenced. Very few today know that its is the Mysore Chalo movement, led by several freedom fighters that forced the then Maharaja, Jayacharamaraja Wodeyar, to step down and to install a popular people’s Government led by K. C Reddy.

While India celebrated Independence on August 15, 1947, Mysoreans had to wait a little while longer for the freedom to dawn. When there was no sign of the Wodeyar handing over power to the people, several freedom fighters got together and decided to launch an agitation.

The Congress then asked the people to assemble at the present Ramaswamy Circle so that it could launch a movement to force the Maharaja to transfer power to them. Thousands of people gathered from all over the state and the police fired on the people.

A student of Hardwick High School, Ramaswamy, was killed, while another boy, Chandrashekar, managed to climb atop the Maharaja's Palace and hoist the National Flag.

Ramaswamy, a resident of  Subbarayanakere, was going home when he was killed. The other two killed were Tooranayak and Ranga.  A few days later, there was police firing near Devaraja Market, but thankfully there was no casualties.

The firing was the beginning of the end of the Maharaja’s rule and a popular Government was installed on October 24, 1947. K.C. Reddy was the first Chief Minister of Mysore State and he continued till March 30, 1952

Today, the erstwhile five-light junction is better known as Ramaswamy Circle. A memorial was built here in the 1950s by the Mysore City Corporation.

Mysore today is celebrating the Independence Day along with the rest of the country. But do they realise the pivotal role played at Subbarayanakere, Anantalaya and Ramaswamy Circle. And do the powers that be realize the importance of  these landmarks.   

The ditch that became a park

This was a huge ditch that changed the way the Mysore Palace looked. The change occurred in the last month of the 19th Century and Mysore looked transformed from then on.

It is now spruced up and looks as ravishing as the Lalbagh and Cubbon Park of Bangalore. The only difference is that this is not as big as the two parks of Bangalore.

Today, it is known as the Curzon Park and it was commissioned by the Wodeyars, the rulers of Mysore, to commemorate the visit of Viceroy of British India Lord George Curzon.

Curzon was the Viceroy of India from 1899 to 1905 and he visited Mysore in December 1900. The Wodeyars had the ditch in front of the Amba Vilas or main palace filled up and commissioned a garden.

They named it Curzon Park and it was opened in December 1900 to mark the first visit of the Viceroy. By then, the construction of the Amba Vilas Palace was underway for three years and its boundaries were being demarcated.

The vast open space in front of the palace was filled up with earth and the garden began taking shape. This plan to give the city a new garden started in the 1890s itself.

The ditch was actually a moat but by then there was no need for such a defensive mechanism. It goes to the credit of the Wodeyars and the City administration that they decided to put the moat to better use.

Lord Curzon came to Mysore on November 30, 1900, and toured the erstwhile Mysore State for 10 days. He visited Srirangapatna, Kakanakote, Bangalore and KGF. The red silk cotton tree (Kempu Boorugada Mara) in the park which is now a heritage tag was  planted by Curzon.

There are at least eight other trees in the open space which have survived the vagaries of Nature for more than 110 years. A huge neem tree here is also more than a century old.  Unfortunately, another equally old tree-a mango tree-which was near the bus stand, was felled.

Curzon Park become a riot of colours during Dassara when it plays host to the flower show. These shows are generally held for nine days from October 1 to October 9.
The park is spread over 7.5 acres and it has been renovated with ornamental plants, exotic flowers,  walking track, children's playground, cascading waterfalls and Bonsai exhibits.
So after a visit to the palace, enjoy a walk in the garden and look up the old trees.