The Mysore War Medal exhibition, supposed to continue for a fortnight, has brought some confusion to visitors and numismatics as the result of different dates printed on two explanation charts.
The Mysore War Medal is kept in a glass box, inside which there is a chart that describes the obverse and reverse of the medal. Outside the box there is a chart explaining the same thing. But the two charts differ. The Persian inscription is translated as ‘Srirangapatnam’. The chart adds that the reverse of the medal shows a temple and a mosque, a hoard of cannon balls, a fort and a lot of soldiers. The obverse shows a fighting tiger and lion. The tiger represents Tipu Sultan, who called himself ‘Tiger of Mysore’, and the lion represents the British. “As per historical records Tipu was killed in the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War on May 4. If this was stated clearly in the explanation charts, the confusion could have been avoided,” said one numismatic. “It is okay for historians. They can understand what the medal says. But when an ordinary visitors looks at the medal there are chances that he or she gets confused,” he said.
The guides at the museum were not available when the reporter tried to contact them about this issue.