Tipu's Palace

This is Kamal on one of the balconies in Tipu's Palace in Bangalore. Tipu was a sultan who commissioned this palace construction in 1791 as his summer home. It's made almost entirely of teak wood, and Tipu called it "Tashk-e-Jannat" meaning "the envy of heaven". One interesting thing about this sultan is that he used to record and analyze his dreams. He took his dreams very seriously, even to the extent that they predicted his success in future battles. For instance, on one occasion Tipu dreamt of a strange animal that looks like a cow, but was striped like a tiger and devoid of any hind legs. He attributes a symbolic significance to each component. The British are cows, appearing to be tigers. They would attempt to fight, but the absence of hind legs implied that they would not get any support on the ground. They would thus be defeated.