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Sringeri was not the only holy place, which received the patronage of Tipu. To the Lakshmikantha
temple at Kalale in Nanjangud taluq of Mysore district, he gave four
silver cups, a silver plate and a silver spittoon. To the Narayanaswamy temple
at Melkote he presented gold and silver vessels besides an elephant and a few jewels.
The Srikanteswara temple at Nanjangud was presented with
a jewelled cup and a few precious stones together with a greenish linga which was
installed by his orders.
Within his own capital, a stone-throw from his palace stood the famous Ranganatha
temple which still stands to-day, to which he presented seven silver cups and
silver camphor banners. Earlier in 1774 when a portion of it was damaged in a fire it was
rebuilt within a month.
Tipu listened with equal respect to the ringing of the bells from the temple, and the call
of Azan from the mosque. There were two other temples near the mosque, the Narasimha
temple and the Gangadhareswara temple where daily pujas
were performed which were never interfered with. He fixed an allowance to the temple at
Rayakottai. By paying 10,000 huns he ordered the completion of the temple of Gopur in
Conjeevaram whose foundations had been laid in 1780 by Haider. As Haider died before the
completion of the temple, Tipu not only ordered its completion but also participated in
its opening ceremony. When a dispute arose in Melkote in matters of some religious
implications he offered his good offices to settle the issue to which both parties agreed
and he solved the problem to the satisfaction of both. Thus the attempts of a few British
historians to depict Tipu as intolerant are highly erroneous.
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