History of the Srirangam temple

The legend of the Ranga Vimanam

Traditional account

The temple's own tradition begins not on earth but in the ocean of milk.

According to the account preserved by the temple and summarised on the HR&CE portal, the Pranavakara vimanam, the shrine with the reclining Lord within it, emerged in answer to the penance of Brahma. Brahma worshipped it and passed it to the solar king Ikshvaku, and it was worshipped for generations in Ayodhya.

After his coronation, Sri Rama gave the vimanam to Vibhishana to take home to Lanka. On the way south Vibhishana set it down on the island between the Kaveri and the Kollidam. When he returned, it would not move. The Lord chose to remain by the Kaveri and to face south, towards Lanka, which is why Sri Ranganatha faces south.

The Chola king Dharma Varma built the first enclosure around the shrine, and the innermost prakaram still bears his name. In time, the HR&CE account continues, floods of the Kaveri buried the vimanam and its walls, and the place became forest. A Chola king known as Kili Chola, resting under a tree after hunting, understood the song of a parrot, found the vimanam by digging and restored its worship.

Early references and the Alwars

Scholarly interpretation

India's submission to UNESCO's Tentative List states that evidence places the temple's origin in the 1st century CE, in the Sangam period. That is the submitting government's assessment; the dating of early Tamil literature is debated by scholars. The Tamil epic Silappathikaram, itself variously dated, describes Vishnu reclining at Arangam amid the Kaveri.

Between roughly the sixth and ninth centuries, by common scholarly dating, the Alwars, the Tamil poet-saints of Vishnu, sang of the Lord's shrines. According to published counts, Srirangam received 247 of the hymns in the Naalayira Divya Prabandham, from eleven of the twelve Alwars, more than any other Divya Desam. Thirumangai Alwar sang 73 of them, Thondaradippodi Alwar 55 and Periyalwar 35. Thondaradippodi Alwar's Thiruppalliyezhuchi is the hymn that wakes the Lord, and Thiruppaan Alwar's Amalanadhipiran describes the Lord of Srirangam from his feet to his face.

Traditional account

Andal, the only woman among the Alwars, is believed to have merged with Sri Ranganatha at Srirangam. Tradition associates Thirumangai Alwar with building work at the temple, and the HR&CE portal names the fourth prakaram Alinaadan Thiruchuttru after him.

Royal patrons

Historical record

The temple as it stands is the work of many dynasties. The UNESCO submission lists the early Cholas ruling from Uraiyur, the later Cholas, the Kongu rulers, the Pandyas, the Hoysalas and the rulers and viceroys of the Vijayanagara Empire among those who built here. Hundreds of inscriptions have been documented at Srirangam. General references put the total at more than 800, but counts vary with how inscriptions are catalogued. They are described as dating from the late ninth century to the sixteenth, in Tamil, Sanskrit, Kannada, Telugu, Marathi and Odia. They record gifts of land and gold, arrangements for worship and festivals, and building work.

Several prakarams carry royal names, among them Dharma Varma, Rajamahendran, Akalangan (Kili Chola) and Trivikrama Cholan. The Pandya king Jatavarman Sundara Pandyan I (reigned 1251–1268) is credited in general references with funding restoration work at the Srirangam temple from the wealth of his victories.

Nathamuni, Yamunacharya and Ramanuja

Traditional account

Srirangam became the centre of Sri Vaishnavism through a line of teachers, the acharyas. Tradition credits Nathamuni (tenth century) with compiling the Alwars' hymns and with instituting their performance as Araiyar Sevai, which is still performed at Srirangam. Yamunacharya (Alavandar), remembered as his grandson, later led the community at Srirangam.

Scholarly interpretation

Ramanuja's traditional dates are 1017–1137, a lifespan of 120 years; many modern scholars place him around 1077–1157. Both traditional and scholarly accounts agree that he managed and reformed the Ranganathaswamy temple and wrote his Sri Bhashya at Srirangam. A figure of Ramanuja in the temple's Udaiyavar shrine is believed by devotees to be his preserved mortal remains. Read more about Ramanuja and Srirangam.

Traditional account

The twelfth-century Tamil poet Kambar is believed to have come to Srirangam to have his Kamba Ramayanam approved. The HR&CE portal lists a Kambar Ramayanam Mandapam in the fifth prakaram. Tradition adds that the Narasimha of the nearby Mettazhagiya Singar shrine roared his approval.

Invasions and the long exile, 1311–1371

Historical record

In 1311 the army of the Delhi Sultanate under Malik Kafur raided the south, and the temple was looted. A second attack followed in 1323. The festival image, Namperumal, was taken away from Srirangam for safety. It returned in 1371, after the Vijayanagara conquest of the region, and the temple was restored.

Traditional account

Sri Vaishnava memory of these years is vivid. Traditional accounts say the festival image was carried away by devotees led by the elderly acharya Pillai Lokacharya, who died on the journey south. Some traditional accounts describe substantial loss of life among devotees defending the temple. Traditional accounts associated with the temple also describe Vedanta Desika surviving the invasion and preserving the manuscript of an important commentary. Two more stories are still told:

• Vellayi and the White Tower. A temple dancer named Vellayi is said to have distracted the invading commander and then leapt to her death from the eastern tower rather than be captured. The tower, painted white, is called the Vellai Gopuram.
• Thulukka Nachiyar. A daughter of the Sultan's household is said to have become devoted to the captured image and to have followed it south. She is honoured in the temple as Thulukka Nachiyar.

Vijayanagara and Nayaka rebuilding

Historical record

After 1371 the temple was restored and expanded. According to the UNESCO submission, the great hall of a thousand pillars (actually 953) was built in granite during the Vijayanagara period (1336–1565). It has a wide central aisle crossed by transepts, with seven side aisles on each side. The base of the southern Rajagopuram also dates from before the modern era but was left unfinished.

The Nayaka rulers added some of the temple's most celebrated sculpture. UNESCO singles out the Sesharayar Mandapam for its 40 pillars carved as leaping animals. Published references also attribute the Garuda Mandapam to the Nayaka period, and record that the Venugopala shrine was rebuilt by Chokkanatha Nayak, according to an inscription dated 1674.

The Rajagopuram and the modern temple

Historical record

The southern gateway stood unfinished for centuries; HR&CE uses the term mottai gopuram (bald tower) for the temple's unfinished towers. The 44th Jeeyar of the Ahobila Mutt began collecting donations to complete it, and the Rajagopuram was consecrated on 25 March 1987. The HR&CE portal gives its height as 236 feet, with 13 tiers. Read the full story of the Rajagopuram.

A Mahasamprokshanam (reconsecration) took place in 2015. In 2014 India submitted the temple for UNESCO's Tentative List of World Heritage sites. In 2017 the temple received the UNESCO Asia-Pacific Award of Merit for cultural heritage conservation. Reports at the time described it as the first temple in Tamil Nadu to receive this award, recognising traditional restoration methods and the revival of rainwater harvesting and historic drainage. Photographs such as Samuel Bourne's of 1869, shown above, record the towers as they stood in the nineteenth century.

Architecture you can still see

Prakaram numbers below follow the HR&CE portal, which counts outwards from the sanctum. Other publications sometimes number them differently.

To see these in a sensible order, follow our route through the seven prakarams. For how the temple year uses these spaces, see the festival calendar.

Timeline

1. 1st century CE Origin of the temple, according to India's UNESCO Tentative List submission.
2. c. 6th–9th centuries Eleven Alwars sing 247 hymns to Sri Ranganatha (scholarly dating).
3. Late 9th century Earliest inscriptions documented at the temple, according to general references.
4. 11th–12th centuries Ramanuja manages and reforms the temple (traditional dates 1017–1137; scholarly estimates about 1077–1157).
5. 1251–1268 Reign of Jatavarman Sundara Pandyan I, who funds restoration of the temple.
6. 1311 Malik Kafur's army raids the temple.
7. 1323 A second invasion; Namperumal is carried away for safety.
8. 1371 Namperumal returns after the Vijayanagara conquest.
9. Late 14th–16th centuries Vijayanagara period (empire 1336–1565): the thousand-pillar mandapam is built.
10. 1674 The Venugopala shrine is rebuilt (inscription).
11. 1987 The Rajagopuram is consecrated on 25 March.
12. 2014 Submitted to UNESCO's Tentative List.
13. 2015 Mahasamprokshanam of the temple.
14. 2017 UNESCO Asia-Pacific Award of Merit for heritage conservation.