From the Bhakti List Archives

usdeiva • Wed Jun 11 1997 - 15:27:28 PDT 


The Great Temple of 
SRIRANGAM
 ~~ an Introduction.

Text:  T.S. Sundara Rajan.
                                              
__________________________________________________________
Issued by Thiru. Rajeev Ranjan, IAS,
          Collector,  Tiruchirappalli-620001 (Tamil Nadu)

on the occasion of the visit of H.E. President of India, 
Dr Shankar Dayal Sharma,
to the SRIRANGAM TEMPLE 
on October 26, 1996.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

NOTE:   This material, with minor corrections and 
occasional amplification which any second look entails,  
was produced as a booklet for a specific occasion;  hence 
no claims to present  the ‘compleat’ book or anything.  
The format of an introduction and material limited to  
the four ‘sannidhi’ was set for the author by the 
VVIP visit agenda.
 
The ‘bhakti-list’ phonetic system has been adopted as 
serviceable, but it is a disappointment that the E-mail is 
insensitive to font variation, italics etc.
                                                   
The practice of making a plural by adding ‘s’ at the end
has been avoided in respect of non-English words;  thus,
it is “the four sannidhi”, and not “the four sannidhi-s”;
“the AzhvAr are reverently mentioned”, and not 
“the AzhvAr-s...”.   The context will convince the reader 
that unnecessary anglicism is best dispensed
with.                                                         

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-oo-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

SRIRANGAM ~~ the place and the concept.

Srirangam, situated on a densely green island in river kAvEri 
in the Tamil midland, has historic claims as the nucleus of the 
Bhakti movement which originated in the Tamil region in the 
beginnings of the Christian era,  later spread to the 
MahArAshtra segment and gradually reached the northern 
plains of  gangA where it emitted humanistic and egalitarian 
vibrations during the Mughal times.

The vaishNava bhakti literature had its seeds in the early Tamil 
sangham classics.   This consisted of a reference in the 
tolkAppiam (the earliest extant Indian language work available) 
to the tiruvEnkatam hills, the abode of Lord SrI vEnkatESvara, 
and lengthy vaishNava hymns in paripAdal.   The well-known 
aphoristic work tirukkuraL refers to the trivikrama incarnation 
(“aDi aLandAn tAyadellAm”) and the lotus-eye attribute 
(“tAmaraik-kaNNAn ulagu”) of  vishNu-nArAyaNa as specifically 
glorified in the vEda.      The SilappadhikAram contains full 
vaishNava hymns,  besides descriptive references to 
SrIranganAtha and SrI vEnkatEsvara.        The epic-sequel of 
maNimEkhalai refers to the vishNu purANa.

It is in the divya-prabandham (or, the aruLic-cheyal) of the 
AzhvAr mystics that bhakti found its home and radiance.      
The AzhvAr are reverently mentioned in the bhAgavata 
purANam ~~ kalau khalu bhavishyanti nArAyaNa-parAyaNah...  
dramiDEshu cha bhUriSah (For, it is in the kaliyugam  that 
steadfast  devotees of nArAyaNa will appear;  and plenteously 
in the draviDa  regions).    

The divya-prabandham is the collective corpus of the passionate 
hymns of the AzhvAr mystics  (5-8 cent. AD).        It was 
SrI nAthamuni who, in the 10th century, retrieved and compiled 
this bhakti treasure which is the pride of the Tamil classical 
literature.   The SrIvaishnava guru-paramparA (inheritance 
order of the preceptors) is held to commence from 
Lord SrI nArAyaNa himself, and to centre, rightly so, around 
SrI nAthamuni and his grandson SrI yAmuna.   The AzhvAr 
represented all the caste-groups of the society and their works 
enjoy the status of drAviDa-vEda at par with the gIrvANa-vEda 
in pre-pANiNI ‘sanskrt’.       The divya-prabandham is in the 
form of adoration of the deities of 108 temples (divya-dESam)  
situated  in different parts of the country, and employs every 
form of poetics (aNi) and prosody (Chandam) available in Tamil.     
Of the 108 temples commemorated, it is SRIRANGAM which is 
regarded as the Temple par excellence, and is referred to as the 
bhU-lOka-vaikuNTham.   It is for this reason that the 20-day-
long festival of  vaikuNTha EkAdaSI (in the kArtika-dhanur 
months) has acquired a unique prominence in Srirangam.

It is not that Srirangam earned veneration only in the works of 
the AzhvAr or other Tamil classics.   The marAThi work 
dAsabOdham of samartha rAmadAsa, the telugu classic 
Amukta-mAlyadA of the vijayanagara emperor krshNadEva 
rAya,  gOsvAmi tuLasIdAsa’s rAm-charit-mAnas and 
guru SrI arjun dev’s sahansar-nAma are some of the non-Tamil 
works which contain tributes to Srirangam.

It may be mentioned in the passing that the ‘peria-koil’
(Great Temple) of SrIranganAtha-svAmi in SRIRANGAM 
ranks among the largest-sized temples and religious centres of 
the world, such as Boroboudor in Indonesia, Angkor Vat in 
Cambodia, the Vatican in Rome,and Machu Pitchu in Peru.   
The bare physical facts about the temple are staggering.   
It extends over an area of 156 acres, there are 21 ‘gOpuram’ 
in all, a total of 49 individual shrines (‘sannidhi’) and 9 sacred 
tanks (‘tIrtham’).   The ‘punnAga’ is the sacred tree of 
SrI ranganAtha.    The temple in SrIrangam has, of course, far 
greater antiquity than its peers.   Srirangam has also had
a recent distinction when (in the year 1987) a 236 ft high 
‘gOpuram’ (of 13 tiers and mounted with 13 ‘kalaSam’) was 
raised and consecrated over the (existing) southern rAjadvAra 
built by achyuta-rAya who ruled in vijayanagara during 
1530-1541.

The shrine (peria-sannidhi) of SrI ranganAtha occupies the 
core of seven in-set  enclosures (prAkAram) ~~ constituting 
the total temple-complex, slightly rectangular in shape. This 
is the only temple of the vEdic tradition having the full 
complement of seven enclosures which have received many a 
symbolic and esoteric explanation, such as the seven layers of 
consciousness (saptAvaraNam) which one has to penetrate to 
attain ‘brahma-jnAnam’.   The outermost (and seventh) 
enclosure was known as the mADa (to-day’s chitra) vIthi, the 
sixth as trivikrama (to-day’s uttara) vIthi, the fifth as 
akaLankan, the fourth as Ali-nADan (after tirumangai AzhvAr), 
the third as kulaSekharan, the second as rAjamahEndran, and 
the innermost as dharmavarman vIthi (or, tiruviNNAzhi 
pradakshiNam) holding the core of the sanctum sanctorum.   
The sanctum is crested with the gold-gilted ‘praNava-AkAra 
vimAnam’ with para-vAsudEva-mUrti on the front.

The nucleus of the Srirangam temple was known to the early 
chOzha kings (who were titled as ‘kiLLi’, and who ruled from 
uraiyUr situated on the southern bank of kAvEri) one of whom 
had uncovered it from under heavy layers of silting by the river 
kAvEri in its cyclic spate.      The temple grew down the ages 
through devotion and contribution of several ruling dynasties, 
culturing skills and philosophical disquisitions, festivals and 
literatures.       Its physical development, true to its evolved 
character, accommodated every known period and style of 
sculpting and architecture.   It is reasonable to state that it 
was in Srirangam that the culmination and best definition of the 
draviDian temple was achieved.

The veLLai gOpuram on the east rises on poignant historic 
memories, while the nAn-mukhan (‘chatur-Ananam’) gOpuram 
on the southern entrance to the temple is  enriched with vivid 
terra-cotta of the temple episodes. Besides the main shrines of 
SrI ranganAtha and of SrI ranganAyakI, individual shrines are 
dedicated to the AzhvAr and the principal AchArya, as well as 
some Agama-specific deities.   The seated garuDa facing the 
main shrine is lofty in height, in scale with the reclining 
mUla-mUrti of SrI ranganAtha himself.   The cow-pen  and 
granary (‘SrI-bhandAram’) aresituated to the west of garuDa.   
The tranquil eye-view of garuDa directs one to the AryabhaTa 
gate, further on to the golden ‘dhvaja-stambham’ (the flag-mast), 
before reaching what the kaThopanishad calls the 
parama-padam of vishNu, the ultimate destination in the sanctum 
where Lord SrI ranganAtha waits to communicate through the 
devotee’s longing eyes. For, this is Srirangam, the ‘peria-kOil’ 
(Great Temple), more than a mere city, a belonging and a longing, 
a fulfilment and confluence of all pilgrimages, an ambience of 
stimulation and consolation.

The shrine of SrI rAmAnujAchArya  

SrI rAmAnuja’s mission was accomplished in Srirangam and, 
in a sense, it was SrI rAmAnuja who made what Srirangam grew 
to be, the foremost centre of organised worship,  the principal 
centre of learning and aesthetic sensibilities and human values.   
The world outside of the SrIvaishNava community knows 
SrI rAmAnuja (1017-1137 AD) as an eminent successor of 
SrI Sankara in the vEdic tradition, one who proposed a 
pragmatic philosophic modification of  SrI Sankara’s doctrine 
of monism with its corollary of phenomenal illusion (‘avidyA’ 
and ‘mAyA’).

SrI rAmAnuja was, however, much more than a mere 
dialectician.   He had a natural and abiding faith in the vEda, 
his dialecics was always informed by pragmatism and enlivened 
by a deep humanitarianism, he was lovingly devoted to the Tamil 
scripture of divya-prabandham which represented the peak of 
human achievement in philosophic profundity, humanistic solace 
and literary elegance, he was, like gautama-buddha, a charismatic 
leader of men, a sensitive organiser and administrator, and he 
ranks among the best-known apostles of truth.      His polyvalent 
personality is best described, in the words of John Dryden 
applied to Shakespeare, as “the large and comprehensive soul”.

SrI rAmAnuja was born in SrIperumpudUr and had his early 
education in tiru-puTkuzhi near kAnchIpuram.   Dismayed over 
his teacher’s limited vision, and pedantry, he sought out for 
better sensibilities elsewhere.   His inborn humility combined 
with his eagerness for knowledge earned for him access to five 
eminent preceptors in succession:tirukkacchi nambi, peria nambi, 
peria tirumalai nambi, tirumAlai AnDAn, and tirukkOshtiyUr 
nambi.   He assumed the uttama-ASramam at an early age and 
became an anchorite (san-nyAsin) and migrated to SrIrangam in 
pursuit of intellectual and religious career and mobilisation of 
men in the service of SrIranganAtha.     Given his multi-faceted 
scholarship, persuasive ability and liberal outlook on human 
affairs, he was able to identify and enlist 74 personages 
(‘simhAsana-adhipati’) to serve as conduits to irrigate the 
extensive community with divine grace and to cultivate genuine 
bonhomie (‘loka-hitaishI’).   Mudali-ANDAn, his nephew, who 
headed the convocation of his 74 disciples, and kUrattAzhvAn, 
the scholar-extraordinary, were the mainstay of SrI rAmAnuja’s 
career.

SrIrAmAnuja had experienced a deficiency in that he did not have 
the fortune to meet the great personage yAmunAchArya (alis 
ALavandAr) during the latter’s life-time.      Yamuna had left a 
message for his vicarious disciple SrI rAmAnuja that he should 
write a commentary on the brahma-sUtra to amplify and clarify 
the doctrines of the ancient thinkers.      This commission took 
SrI rAmAnuja (in the company of kUrattAzhvAn) to the 
SAradA-pITham in kAshmIram (now in Pakistan-occupied 
territory) where he had a happy, if precarious, chance to 
go through the bodhAyana-vrtti on brahma-sUtra.   Returning to 
SrIrangam, SrI rAmAnuja wrote his commentary (famous as the 
SrI-bhAshyam) on the brahma-sUtra, with the participation of 
kUrattAzhvAn.

The most visible merits of SrI-bhAshyam deserve to be listed.   
It had a basic fidelity to the vEda, it upheld an organic unity 
suffusing all the vEdic texts through logical reconciliation 
(‘samanvaya’) of the seemingly  contradictory passages in the 
vEda (the bhEda-, abhEda-, and GhaTaka- Sruti), the primary 
trust in the essential and functional reality of the phenomenal 
world, rejection of the advocacy of despair, delineation of a 
positive and humanitarian message of creative freewill 
(“krta-prayatnA-pEkshas-tu”) and deliverance and, above all, 
a surpassing semantic clarity and logical integrity.

When sectarian intolerance erupted at home, SrI rAmAnuja 
had to move to the karnATaka region, and settled down for full 
12 years in mElkotE (tiru-nArAyaNa-puram).   The local 
hoySaLa king  vishNuvardhana became devoted to him and 
SrI rAmAnuja availed of his support and got mudali-ANDAn to 
supervise the building of five temples to SrI nArAyaNa.

SrI rAmAnuja’s return to Srirangam was a great home-coming 
and, under his personal tutelage, the twin children of 
kUrattAzhvAn (named parASara bhaTTA and vEdavyAsa 
bhatta) flowered into outstanding intellectuals who started the 
unequalled tradition of philosophic disquisition, vyAkhyAna-
paramparA, which forms the most precious inheritance, to date, 
of theTamil language and community in terms of contemporary 
information, literary glossary and aesthetic perception.

SrI rAmAnuja was the only personage whose remains were 
interred inside the Great Temple precincts.   The mUla image of 
the AchArya was fashioned over his relics and hence it is known 
as the Image per se, ‘tAm Ana tirumEni’.  (This image receives, 
twice a year, a coat of  camphor mixed with saffron, and this 
special observance had continued for the last eight centuries 
and a half.) The iconic image at his birth-place, SrIperumpudUr, 
vividly captures his youthful and handsome appearance and is 
known as the Image Dear to Devotees, ‘tamar uganda tirumEni’.   
The one in mElkOTE, cast before his return to SrIrangam,  
reflects his old age and was blessed by himself;  it is known as 
the Image Which Pleased Him, ‘tAm uganda tirumEni’.

The shrine of chakkarattAzhvAr (SrI sudarSana)

This shrine is dedicated to Sriman-nArAyaNa’s weapon, 
SrI-sudarSanam, the divine discus.   sudarSana translates as 
the One with Auspicious Appearance. The Lord’s other weapons 
are the conch, pAncha-janyam;  the sabre, nAndakam;  the bow, 
Sarngam;  and the mace, kaumodakI.   According to the Tamil 
Sangham classics, it was the ancient practice to make infants 
wear a medal with the fivesome vaishNava weaponry 
(aym-paDai-tAli) embossed on it. These very divine weapons are 
carried, even to-day, on the coins of Nepal.    The sudarSana-
chakram and the Sankham are popular emblems in Nepal.

The SrIvaishNava observe a five-fold ritual known as 
pancha-samskAra, as prescribed in the pAncharAtra-Agamam 
and padma-purANam.   This is also referred to in the Tamil 
scripture, tiruppallANdu of periAzhvAr. The five observances 
are: tApah (branding the shoulders with chakram and Sankham), 
puNdrah (wearing on the forehead the SrIvaishNava mark 
symbolising nArAyaNa’s lotus feet), nAma (assuming the name 
rAmAnuja-dAsa), mantrah (the sacred eight-syllable formula), 
and yAgah (the daily worship of the household deity).

The sudarSana shrine in Srirangam was installed by the ascetic 
kUra-nArAyaNa jIyar who became the first occupant of the gadi 
of SrIranga-nArAyaNa jIyar (the pontiff of Srirangam temple) 
in 1126 AD [History of the Srirangam Temple:  VN Hari Rao].   
It was this jIyar who had also visualised and installed the 
lofty garuDa facing the main shrine. He was a many-sided 
personality and successfully averted many a difficult situation 
that arose in the Great Temple of Srirangam.     He was an 
accomplished mAntrik and was devoted to SrI-sudarSana-upAsana 
and, wherefore, he composed a very beautiful and structured hymn 
called sudarSana-Satakam.

The sudarSana deity in this shrine is iconised as nArAyaNa 
himself, but emphasising the armoury.  Devotees, especially when 
in distress, flock to this shrine for relief and cure by faith.  
The sudarSana shrine in SrIrangam was the first of its kind and 
was subsequently replicated in other temples like varadarAja-
svAmi in kAnchIpuram, kAlamEgha in tirumOhUr near madurai,
SrIrangapattanam near Mysore in karnAtaka etc.

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