A visitor to Narasimha Swamy temple in Seebi of Tumakuru district has a surprise waiting on its walls. Along with murals depicting mythologies are also those which show Tipu Sultan and his father Hyder Ali in the royal court.
These paintings that date back to late 18th century in the temple built by Nallappa, who was a fauzdar under both Hyder and Tipu, are now fading away with little effort at restoration.
Historical records say that construction of the temple at Seebi — 95 km from Bengaluru — began in 1761 and was completed in 1790. The paintings are in a mixed style of Tanjore, Mysuru, Maratha and Vijayanagara, according to scholars.
Nallappa was one of the rich landlords and helped Hyder and his soldiers by providing them with food, water and shelter at Seebi. He also provided fodder to their horses after Hyder and his soldiers fought a battle against the Marathas and came to Seebi for treatment for the injured soldiers. Out of gratitude, Hyder gave him the position of fauzdar, according to the 86-year-old descendent of Nallappa, whose name is also Nallappa. “Fauzdar Nallappa was called as Doddamaneyavaru and Doddagaddeyavaru ,” he says. He points to a painting of Nallappa along with his two brothers sitting in Hyder’s darbar on the ceiling of the temple.
An official of the Department of Archaeology confirmed to The Hindu that the gazetteer records of the temple, along with the paintings of Ramayana, Mahabharata, Krishna Leela and Vishnu Dashavatara, also shows paintings of Tipu. However, there is no mention as to whether Tipu or Hyder contributed anything to the temple.
Convener of Gadinadu Janapada Samparka Kendra Chikkanna Yannekatte, author of Seebi Narasimha Swamy Kshetra Darshana , says that there is the picture of Hyder sitting in his darbar and the painting of Tipu stepping on a big snake, fighting with his sword with a tiger, trying to kill a wild boar with a long spear, leading his army along with his soldiers and so on, along with Hindu gods and goddesses.
Interestingly, Mr. Yannekatte says that Nallappa had written a book called Hyder Naamavali in which he praised Hyder and Tipu by saying that they worked for the welfare of Hindus. He says that behind the temple, even today, we see remnants of the horse stable of Hyder and Tipu. He claims that for the welfare of the temple, the two had given lands.
Founder of Tumakuru District Heritage Forum, Ameen Ahmed, told The Hindu that on the temple’s stone beams are partially erased inscriptions dating to 1790, which are documented in Epigraphia Carnatica , vol. 12, Tumakuru district, 1904. The inscriptions have names of Fauzdar Nallappa, Hyder and Tipu, among others.
