View source for Wellesley Bridge, Srirangapatna

{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2023}}
{{Use Indian English|date=May 2023}}
{{Infobox bridge
| name                = Wellesley Bridge, Srirangapatna
| native_name         = Kiraguru Sethuve
| native_name_lang    = Kannada
| image               = Srirangapatna bridge.jpg
| image_upright       =
| alt                 =
| caption             = Wellesley Bridge
| coordinates         =
| os_grid_reference   =
| carries             = Mysore-Srirgapatna-Bengaluru Road
| crosses             = [[Kaveri River]]
| locale              = [[Srirangapatna]]
| official_name       =
| other_name          = Purnaiah Bridge
| named_for           = [[Richard Wellesley, Governor General of India]]
| owner               = Archaeology Department of Karnataka
| maint               =
| heritage            = Heritage bridge
| id                  =
| id_type             =
| website             =
| preceded            =
| followed            =
| design              =
| material            = Entirely of stone
| material1           =
| material2           =
| length              = {{Convert|512|ft}}
| width               = {{Convert|20| ft}}
| height              =
| depth               =
| traversable         =
| towpath             =
| mainspan            = {{Convert|8|ft}} each span
| number_spans        = 64
| piers_in_water      =
| load                =
| clearance_above     =
| clearance_below     = {{Convert|22| feet}}
| life                = More than 200 years
| architect           =
| designer            =
| contracted_designer =
| winner              =
| engineering         =
| builder             = [[Dewan Purnaiah]] of [[Mysore Kingdom]]
| fabricator          =
| begin               = 1802
| complete            = 1804
| cost                = Rs 5.5 lakhs
| open                = Now open to cycles, motorcycles and pedestrians only
| inaugurated         = 4 October 1804
| rebuilt             = Renovated in 2022
| collapsed           =
| closed              =
| replaces            =
| traffic             =
| toll                =
| map_type            =
| map_relief          =
| map_dot_label       =
| map_image           =
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}}
'''Wellesley Bridge, Srirangapatna''' is an ancient stone bridge built in 1804 on the Highway road leading to [[Bangalore]] (now Bengaluru) from [[Mysore]] (now Mysuru) in the state of [[Karnataka]]. This stone bridge is built across the north bank of the [[Cauvery River]] (also spelled Kaveri River). When built it was the main first artery approach to the island town of [[Srirangapatna]] (also known as Srirengapatam during [[British Raj]]) which was initially the capital city of the [[Wodeyar Dynasty]] of [[Mysore Kingdom]] after the death of [[Tipu Sultan]] in 1799. The bridge was dedicated to [[Richard Wellesley, 1st Marquess Wellesley|Marquis Wellesley]] who was the [[Governor-General of British India]] when it was completed, and it was inaugurated in October 1804. It was built under the overall supervision of [[Dewan]], [[Purnaiah]] of the [[Kingdom of Mysore]], as directed by the King [[Krishnaraja Wadiyar III|Mummadi Krishnaraja Wodeyar]].
The strong bridge is built from stone pillars and corbels, surrounded by stone girders, and survived over 200 years of heavy traffic and heavy floods in the river. It was repaired in 2018-22 and put to use by cyclists, motor cyclists, and pedestrians. It has been proposed to promote the bridge to a heritage monument.
==History==
After this war, the Kingdom of Mysore was restored to the Wodeyar Dynasty by the British Raj with the King Mummadi Krishnaraja Wodeyar as the ruler.<ref name=Muthanna>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=o5MBAAAAMAAJ&q=Wellesley+Bridge,+Srirangapatna|last=Muthanna|first=I.M.|title=Tipu Sultan X'rayed|year=1980|pages=501–502|publisher=Usha Press}}</ref> The then Dewan - Regent, Purnaiah of the Mysore Kingdom, was directed by the King (who was still a minor) to embark on planning and building a strong bridge across the Cauvery River on priority to open up an easy means of communication to Srirangapatna which was still the capital city of Wodeyar kingdom before it was shifted to Mysore city.
<ref name=Bridge>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7Kq1AAAAIAAJ&q=Wellesley+Bridge,+Srirangapatna|last=SriSathyan|first=B.N.|title=Mysore State Gazetteer: Mandya District|year=1967|page=218|publisher=Director of Print, Stationery and Publications at the Government Press}}</ref><ref name=Young>{{Cite news|url= https://www.newindianexpress.com/states/karnataka/2021/feb/14/the-wellesley-bridge-200-years-young-2263845.html|last= Bhardwaj|first= Meera|title=The Wellesley Bridge: 200 years young- The New Indian Express|date= 14 February 2021|publisher= New Indian Express}}</ref><ref name=Times>{{Cite news|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mysuru/mysuru-works-begin-on-historical-wellesley-bridge-restoration/articleshow/79487944.cms|title=Mysuru: Works begin on historical Wellesley Bridge restoration |date= 30 November 2020|publisher=Times of India (indiatimes.com)}}</ref>
Purnaiah prepared an estimate of Rs 5.5 lakhs to build the bridge to connect to Kirigur and beyond to Mysore. The site for the bridge was selected by [[Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington]], the governor of Seringapatam and Mysore, who had led the British regiment against Tipu Sultan in 1799. He was the brother of Richard Wellesley, the Governor-General after whom the bridge has been named. Purnaiah was awarded for his work on this bridge and he also received a pension.<ref name=Heritage>{{Cite news|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mysuru/heritrage-lover-historians-urge-govt-to-preserve-wellesley-bridge/articleshow/65095199.cms | last= Urs |first= Shivendra |title=Heritage lover, historians urge govt to preserve Wellesley Bridge |date= 23 July 2018|publisher= Times of India}}</ref>
A bilingual inscription (English and Persian) on this bridge records the naming of the bridge in honour of Marques Wellesley Bahadur referred to in the Persian text as Jisr-i-Wellesley.<ref name=Survey>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TP9tAAAAMAAJ&q=Wellesley+Bridge,+Srirangapatna|title=Indian Archaeology|year=2000|page=85| publisher=Archaeological Survey of India, Government of India}}</ref>
==Features==
The bridge built on the northern branch of the Kaveri River has a total of 64 spans of 8&nbsp;ft each with 512 feet of linear waterway. In local Kannada language it is called as Kirangur Sethuve ('Sethuve' meaning "bridge") meaning the bridge that leads to Kirangur village. It has withstood heavy floods of the Kaveri River during the intense rains of the [[south-west monsoon]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/onlineex/apac/photocoll/t/019pho000430s41u00037000.html|title=The Wellesley Bridge, Seringapatam|year= 1890|publisher= British Libraray}}</ref> Following the construction of the [[Krishna Raja Sagara|KRS dam]] on the Kaveri river in upstream reaches, the bridge has withstood releases of more than 100000 cusecs of flood water.<ref name=Times/><ref name=Young/>
The bridge, though rough in appearance, was built to native architectural design with monolithic stone pillars mounted with stone corbels (in two layers) that support four layers of stone girders which are topped by the stone slabs of the roadway.<ref name=Young/><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/o.nlineex/apac/photocoll/c/019pho0000096s1u00092000.html|title=Cauvery Bridge [Wellesley] at Seringapatam|year=1860|publisher=British Library}}</ref> This bridge was the main source for the vehicular traffic between [[Bengaluru]] and [[Mysuru]] region till a new bridge was constructed in 1967, downstream.<ref name=Times/>
The Heritage Committee of Mysore has urged the Government of Karnataka to declare the bridge as a heritage monument as it meets the criteria.<ref name=Heritage/>
==Restoration==
Over its two centuries of existence, the bridge had seen cracks, weeds and tree growth endangering its stability, and even a part of its abutment retaining wall had collapsed. Urged by the expert heritage committee, the repair and restoration works of the bridge including the piers were initiated by the Department of Archaeology, Museums and Heritage
in 2018 at an estimated cost of Rs 28 lakh. Apart from the piers, the top slab at the base of the bridge has been replaced with new stones. The restoration works have since been completed in line with the original construction limestone, burnt bricks and small stones and made strong enough to withstand heavy flood discharge in the river.<ref name=Young/><ref name=Times/><ref name=Heritage/>
==References==
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Srirangapatna]]
[[Category:Kingdom of Mysore]]
[[Category:Kaveri River]]
[[Category:Bridges in Karnataka]]