The Great Temple of Srirangam (Ramanuja.org/Srirangam) (original) (raw)

• October 26, 1996

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Srirangam: The Place and the Concept

Srirangam, situated on a densely green island in river kāvēri 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 ṁahārāshtra segment and gradually reached the northern plains of gangā where it emitted humanistic and egalitarian vibrations during the Mughal times.

The vaishṇava bhakti literature had its seeds in the early Tamil sangham classics. This consisted of a reference in the tolkāppiam (the earliest extant Indian language work available) to the tiruvēnkatam hills, the abode of Lord SrI vēnkatēshvara, and lengthy vaishṇava hymns in paripādal. The well-known aphoristic work tirukkuraḷ refers to the trivikrama incarnation (“aḍi aḷandān tāyadellām”) and the lotus-eye attribute (“tāmaraik-kaṇṇān ulagu”) of vishṇu-nārāyaṇa as specifically glorified in the vēda. The shilappadhikāram contains full vaishṇava hymns, besides descriptive references to shrīranganātha and SrI vēnkatēsvara. The epic-sequel of maṇimēkhalai refers to the vishṇu purāṇa.

It is in the divya-prabandham (or, the aruḷic-cheyal) of the āḻvār mystics that bhakti found its home and radiance. The āḻvār are reverently mentioned in the bhāgavata purāṇam ~~ kalau khalu bhavishyanti nārāyaṇa-parāyaṇah… dramiḍēshu cha bhūrishah (For, it is in the kaliyugam that steadfast devotees of nārāyaṇa will appear; and plenteously in the draviḍa regions).

The divya-prabandham is the collective corpus of the passionate hymns of the āḻvār mystics (5–8 cent. AD). It was SrI nāthamuni who, in the 10th century, retrieved and compiled this bhakti treasure which is the pride of the Tamil classical literature. The shrīvaishnava guru-paramparā (inheritance order of the preceptors) is held to commence from Lord SrI nārāyaṇa himself, and to centre, rightly so, around SrI nāthamuni and his grandson SrI yāmuna. The āḻvār represented all the caste-groups of the society and their works enjoy the status of drāviḍa-vēda at par with the gīrvāṇa-vēda in pre-pāṇiṇī ‘sanskrt’. The divya-prabandham is in the form of adoration of the deities of 108 temples (divya-dēsham) situated in different parts of the country, and employs every form of poetics (aṇi) 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 bhū-lōka-vaikuṇṭham. It is for this reason that the 20-day- long festival of vaikuṇṭha ēkādashī (in the kārtika-dhanur months) has acquired a unique prominence in Srirangam.

It is not that Srirangam earned veneration only in the works of the āḻvār or other Tamil classics. The marāṭhi work dāsabōdham of samartha rāmadāsa, the telugu classic Amukta-mālyadā of the vijayanagara emperor krshṇadēva rāya, gōsvāmi tuḷasīdāsa’s rām-charit-mānas and guru SrI arjun dev’s sahansar-nāma 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 shrīranganātha-svāmi 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 ‘gōpuram’ in all, a total of 49 individual shrines (‘sannidhi’) and 9 sacred tanks (‘tīrtham’). The ‘punnāga’ is the sacred tree of SrI ranganātha. The temple in shrīrangam 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 ‘gōpuram’ (of 13 tiers and mounted with 13 ‘kalasham’) was raised and consecrated over the (existing) southern rājadvāra built by achyuta-rāya who ruled in vijayanagara during 1530–1541.

The shrine (peria-sannidhi) of SrI ranganātha occupies the core of seven in-set enclosures (prākāram) ~~ constituting the total temple-complex, slightly rectangular in shape. This is the only temple of the vēdic tradition having the full complement of seven enclosures which have received many a symbolic and esoteric explanation, such as the seven layers of consciousness (saptāvaraṇam) which one has to penetrate to attain ‘brahma-jñānam’. The outermost (and seventh) enclosure was known as the māḍa (to-day’s chitra) vīthi, the sixth as trivikrama (to-day’s uttara) vīthi, the fifth as akaḷankan, the fourth as Ali-nāḍan (after tirumangai āḻvār), the third as kulashekharan, the second as rājamahēndran, and the innermost as dharmavarman vīthi (or, tiruviṇṇāḻi pradakshiṇam) holding the core of the sanctum sanctorum. The sanctum is crested with the gold-gilted ‘praṇava-ākāra vimānam’ with para-vāsudēva-mūrti on the front.

The nucleus of the Srirangam temple was known to the early chōḻa kings (who were titled as ‘kiḷḷi’, and who ruled from uraiyūr situated on the southern bank of kāvēri) one of whom had uncovered it from under heavy layers of silting by the river kāvēri 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 draviḍian temple was achieved.

The veḷḷai gōpuram on the east rises on poignant historic memories, while the nān-mukhan (‘chatur-ānanam’) gōpuram on the southern entrance to the temple is enriched with vivid terra-cotta of the temple episodes. Besides the main shrines of SrI ranganātha and of SrI ranganāyakī, individual shrines are dedicated to the āḻvār and the principal āchārya, as well as some Agama-specific deities. The seated garuḍa facing the main shrine is lofty in height, in scale with the reclining mūla-mūrti of SrI ranganātha himself. The cow-pen and granary (‘SrI-bhandāram’) aresituated to the west of garuḍa. The tranquil eye-view of garuḍa directs one to the āryabhaṭa gate, further on to the golden ‘dhvaja-stambham’ (the flag-mast), before reaching what the kaṭhopanishad calls the parama-padam of vishṇu, the ultimate destination in the sanctum where Lord SrI ranganātha waits to communicate through the devotee’s longing eyes. For, this is Srirangam, the ‘peria-kōil’ (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 rāmānuja 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 shrīvaishṇava community knows SrI rāmānuja (1017–1137 AD) as an eminent successor of SrI Sankara in the vēdic tradition, one who proposed a pragmatic philosophic modification of SrI shankara’s doctrine of monism with its corollary of phenomenal illusion (‘avidyā’ and ‘māyā’).

SrI rāmānuja was, however, much more than a mere dialectician. He had a natural and abiding faith in the vēda, 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 rāmānuja was born in shrīperumpudūr and had his early education in tiru-puṭkuḻi near kāñchīpuram. 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, tirumālai āṇḍān, and tirukkōshtiyūr nambi. He assumed the uttama-ASramam at an early age and became an anchorite (san-nyāsin) and migrated to shrīrangam in pursuit of intellectual and religious career and mobilisation of men in the service of shrīranganātha. Given his multi-faceted scholarship, persuasive ability and liberal outlook on human affairs, he was able to identify and enlist 74 personages (‘simhāsana-adhipati’) to serve as conduits to irrigate the extensive community with divine grace and to cultivate genuine bonhomie (‘loka-hitaishī’). Mudali-ANDAn, his nephew, who headed the convocation of his 74 disciples, and kūrattāḻvān, the scholar-extraordinary, were the mainstay of SrI rāmānuja’s career.

SrI rāmānuja had experienced a deficiency in that he did not have the fortune to meet the great personage yāmunāchārya (alis āḷavandār) during the latter’s life-time. Yamuna had left a message for his vicarious disciple SrI rāmānuja that he should write a commentary on the brahma-sūtra to amplify and clarify the doctrines of the ancient thinkers. This commission took SrI rāmānuja (in the company of kūrattāḻvān) to the shāradā-pīṭham in kāshmīram (now in Pakistan-occupied territory) where he had a happy, if precarious, chance to go through the bodhāyana-vrtti on brahma-sūtra. Returning to shrīrangam, SrI rāmānuja wrote his commentary (famous as the SrI-bhāshyam) on the brahma-sūtra, with the participation of kūrattāḻvān.

The most visible merits of SrI-bhāshyam deserve to be listed. It had a basic fidelity to the vēda, it upheld an organic unity suffusing all the vēdic texts through logical reconciliation (‘samanvaya’) of the seemingly contradictory passages in the vēda (the bhēda-, abhēda-, and nhaṭaka- 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-prayatnā-pēkshas-tu”) and deliverance and, above all, a surpassing semantic clarity and logical integrity.

When sectarian intolerance erupted at home, SrI rāmānuja had to move to the karnāṭaka region, and settled down for full 12 years in mēlkotē (tiru-nārāyaṇa-puram). The local hoyshaḷa king vishṇuvardhana became devoted to him and SrI rāmānuja availed of his support and got mudali-ANDAn to supervise the building of five temples to SrI nārāyaṇa.

SrI rāmānuja’s return to Srirangam was a great home-coming and, under his personal tutelage, the twin children of kūrattāḻvān (named parāshara bhaṭṭā and vēdavyāsa bhatta) flowered into outstanding intellectuals who started the unequalled tradition of philosophic disquisition, vyākhyāna- paramparā, which forms the most precious inheritance, to date, of theṭamil language and community in terms of contemporary information, literary glossary and aesthetic perception.

SrI rāmānuja was the only personage whose remains were interred inside the Great Temple precincts. The mūla image of the āchārya was fashioned over his relics and hence it is known as the Image per se, ‘tām Ana tirumēni’. (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, shrīperumpudūr, vividly captures his youthful and handsome appearance and is known as the Image Dear to Devotees, ‘tamar uganda tirumēni’. The one in mēlkōṭē, cast before his return to shrīrangam, reflects his old age and was blessed by himself; it is known as the Image Which Pleased Him, ‘tām uganda tirumēni’.

The Shrine of chakkarattāḻvār (śrī sudarśana)

This shrine is dedicated to Sriman-nārāyaṇa’s weapon, SrI-sudarzanam, the divine discus. sudarzana translates as the One with Auspicious Appearance. The ḷord’s other weapons are the conch, pāñcha-janyam; the sabre, nāndakam; the bow, Sarngam; and the mace, kaumodakī. According to the Tamil Sangham classics, it was the ancient practice to make infants wear a medal with the fivesome vaishṇava weaponry (aym-paḍai-tāli) embossed on it. These very divine weapons are carried, even to-day, on the coins of Nepal. The sudarzana- chakram and the Sankham are popular emblems in Nepal.

The shrīvaishṇava observe a five-fold ritual known as pancha-samskāra, as prescribed in the pāñcharātra-Agamam and padma-purāṇam. This is also referred to in the Tamil scripture, tiruppallāṇdu of periāḻvār. The five observances

are: tāpah (branding the shoulders with chakram and Sankham),

puṇdrah (wearing on the forehead the shrīvaishṇava mark symbolising nārāyaṇa’s lotus feet), nāma (assuming the name rāmānuja-dāsa), mantrah (the sacred eight-syllable formula), and yāgah (the daily worship of the household deity).

The sudarzana shrine in Srirangam was installed by the ascetic kūra-nārāyaṇa jīyar who became the first occupant of the gadi of shrīranga-nārāyaṇa jīyar (the pontiff of Srirangam temple) in 1126 AD [History of the Srirangam Temple: VN Hari Rao]. It was this jīyar who had also visualised and installed the lofty garuḍa 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 māntrik and was devoted to SrI-sudarzana-upāsana and, wherefore, he composed a very beautiful and structured hymn called sudarzana-zatakam.

The sudarzana deity in this shrine is iconised as nārāyaṇa himself, but emphasising the armoury. Devotees, especially when in distress, flock to this shrine for relief and cure by faith. The sudarzana shrine in shrīrangam was the first of its kind and was subsequently replicated in other temples like varadarāja- svāmi in kāñchīpuram, kālamēgha in tirumōhūr near madurai, shrīrangapattanam near Mysore in karnātaka etc.

The shrine of tāyār (śrīranganāyakī)

SrI is the feminine personification of the Grace of the Creator. The sahasranāmam (occurring in mahābhāratam) refers to the Lord as ‘SrI-vatsa-vakshāh’, meaning that SrI dwells in the heart of the (anthropomorphic) deity. The Christian scripture, for instance, affirms that God made man in His own image, and it is acceptable that man could contemplate God in human appearance. Both the shrīsūktam and the vishṇupurāṇam contain the core and definition of the SrI imagery. SrI is the embodiment of all auspicious qualities. These qualities have been extolled by shrīparāshara bhaṭṭa in his ‘stotram’ known as SrI-guṇa-ratna-kōsham. The sahasra-nāmam refers to the Lord both as ‘guṇa-bhrt’ and as ‘nirguṇa’, that is, the One with attributes, and the One transcending attributes. This complementariness is matched by the sacred name shrīman-nārāyaṇa. SrI is worshipped for her principal role of ‘purusha-kāram’, intercession with the Lord to show mercy on erring men. The shrīvaishṇava religion has steered clear of a polytheistic doctrine which stalls by postulating a multiplicity of absolutes or infinities. SrI is therefore not a deity apart from nārāyaṇa; SrI is ‘anapāyinī’, inseparable. SrI is unto nārāyaṇa as the brilliance is to the sun, and this is vouchsafed in Sri-rāmāyaṇam, “ananyā rāghavēṇāham bhāskarēṇa prabhā yathā”.

The shrīvaishṇava know SrI as tāyār, the Mother. shrīranganāyakī has her own exclusive shrine within the precincts of the Great Temple. She extends her grace to the devotees through her own festivals (which follow close on the calendar of shrīranganātha’s festivals), all celebrated within her own shrine. The day of asterism uttara-phalgunī in the month of mīnam is of high emotional value, for it is on this day that the devotees can worship shrīranganāyakī and shrīranganātha seated together in divine union, and it is on this day that SrI rāmānuja recited his ‘gadya-trayam’ litany.

The sacred tree (‘sthala-vrksham’) of shrīranganāyakī is ‘vilvam’ which stands in her shrine, and is of unknown age. shrīranganāyakī is also fondly spoken of as shrīranga-nācchiyār and as tāyār. tāyār appears to us in the classical iconography of holding lotuses (‘padma-hasta’), teaching men to be humble, and gesturing protection.

The grace and beauty of tāyār combine to offer all that a supplicant could seek in his devotional life.

The shrine of śrīranganātha-svāmi

shrīranganātha is worshipped in two forms, the ‘achala-mūrti’ (or,‘mūla’), the stationary; and the ‘chala-mūrti’ (or,‘utsava’), the mobile one. In the mūla-mūrti, the Lord is depicted as two-armed and reclining in yoga-avasthā (cosmic contemplation) on the couch of ananta (Time Infinite). The ananta-nārāyaṇa image, and its imagery, have been popular all over the country ~~ such as at tiruppullāṇi near sētukkarai/rāmeshwaram, tiruvanantapuram, shrīrangam, mahābalipuram, angul in Orissa, deogarh in Lalitpur in Uttar Pradesh etc.

The image of shrīranganātha is reckoned among nine ‘svayam-vyakta’ (sui generis, or self-manifested) deities.

The mahā-nārāyaṇopanishad describes the manifestations of nārāyaṇa, the Supreme, as five-fold:

“ambhas-yapārē bhuvanasya madhyē
nākasya prshṭhē mahatō mahīyān
shukrēṇa jyōtī:mshi samanu-pravishtah
prajāpatish-charati garbhē antah.”

In the ‘param’ state, He is transcendentally Supreme (mahatō mahīyān) and spans the high heavens (“nākasya prshṭhē”) in vaikuṇṭham/paramapadam; ‘vyūham’ is the state of diversification as vāsudēva, sankarshaṇa, pradyumna and aniruddha, of which the vāsudēva form as ‘kshīrābdhi-nātha’ (“pālāḻi nī kiḍakkum”, “ambhas-yapārē”) is specially extolled; the ‘vibhavam’ consists of his various incarnations (most significantly the shrīrāma and shrīkrshna avatāram) in the world he created (bhuvanasya madhyē); the ‘archā’ is indicated by the dear luminous images (shukrēṇa jyōtī:mshi) consecrated and worshipped in temples and households, and accessible (vishēshhēṇa grāhyatē vigraham) to the devotees; as ‘antaryāmī’, he is immanent (“charati garbhē antah”) in the hearts of all his creatures.

The vēda refers to him as nārāyaṇa the para-brahma, and this is how he appears in the mūla-mūrti of shrīranganātha. nārāyaṇa also chose to instruct Man (nara) in the badarī-kshētram, in performing penance; hence in the sanctum of shrīranganātha, an image of badarī-nārāyaṇa is installed, issuing the message of the ashṭāksharī-mantram.

The utsava-mūrti, with his spouses shrīdēvī and bhūdēvī, is the lord of glory, the lord of the earth. He is fondly known as azhagia-maṇavāḷan, the charmer bridegroom; during a long period of rapacious invasion of Srirangam (circa 1320 AD), shrīranganātha was removed to different places and finally restored to Srirangam when a difficulty arose in identifying this dear personage as the lord of Srirangam. It was the temple’s washerman who, grown blind and in his last days, sniffed shrīranganatha’s robes and declared, Verily is this our lord! nam Perumāḷ! So was it that the endearment ‘nam-perumāḷ’ got accepted and grew fragrant with every remembrance of him.

namperumāḷ is of surpassing beauty and of unknown antiquity; he, verily like the eternal child krshṇa of brndāvanam, has been the unrivalled darling of our sanctified memories, had animated the entirety of the divya-prabandham hymns, and the subsequent philosophical literature of the āchārya. He, this namperumāḷ, is held to have been the household deity of the ikshvāku lineage of ayōdhyā and the ancestors of shrīrāma. Commentators cite two verses from shrīrāmāyaṇam to this effect:

“saha-patnyā vishālākshyā nārāyaṇam upāgamat.” (‘ayōdhyā’)

“ikshvāku-kula-dhanam labdhvā lankām prāyāt vibhīshaṇah.” (‘yuddha’)

The latter verse identifies vibhīshaṇa (the ‘dharmātmā’) as the beneficiary who received shrīranganātha as a gift from shrīrāma himself and, as the benefactor who installed Him in the sylvan setting of Srirangam island. A sculpture each in the third and the fourth enclosures of the temple testify to this benevolence of vibhīshaṇa āḻvār, as he is referred to in the Srirangam tradition.

The great poet kamban extols this belief, and gōsvāmi tulasīdās addresses a significant prayer to shrīranganatha in the lines,

“bār-bār bar māngūn, harshi dēhu shrīrang,
pada-saroj anapāyini, bhagati sadā sat-sang!”

In his fragmentary sequel (entitled sahansar-nāmā) to the Adi-granth sāheb, guru arjun-dēv fervently includes the name of “shrīrang, vaikuṇṭh-kē-vāsi”. In Rajasthan, the rājā of Bundi styled themselves as shrīrangadāsa. The kēshav-rāi pātan temple situated on the northern bank of river Chambal, off Kota in Rajasthan, has a stone tablet of Sanskrit inscription which commences with the invocation, shrīranganāthō jayatu!

shrīranganātha, or namperumāḷ, as the archa manifestation par excellence, has been hymned by one and all of the āḻvār, and by the feminine incarnation of ANDAL. The āḻvār tiruppāṇ of humble origin, as well as ANDAL, are believed to have attained mystic union with shrīranganātha.

Sri-vēnkatēshvara is held to be shrīranganātha’s manifestation in the north of shrīrangam, and shrīshaurirāja (in the temple of tirukkaṇṇapuram) in the east.

The name shrīrangam stands for the seat of glory (‘Sriyah rangam iti’).

shrīranganātha presides over the principal kshētram out of the 108 vaishṇava centres (‘divya-desam’) hymned by the āḻvār. Hence the name ‘peria sannidhi’, the Audience Supreme.

shrīranganātha is not a ‘remote’ deity but one who receives endearments and adorations, as for a child of the household. His day begins with tender ‘vīṇā’ recital, and an elephant and cow presented in the sanctuary as auspicious gesture. He is given a bath (‘tirumañjanam’) in pellucid water brought on elephant-back from the sacred rivers of kāvēri and koḷḷiḍam. His ornaments are invaluable and pleasingly crafted, his victuals marked by a special cuisine cooked in his large kitchen known as ‘aravinda-nāyakiyār peria tiru-maḍai-paḷḷi’.

It is common knowledge that the adoration of this dear Lord of shrīrangam transcended orthodoxies, counting among his devotees a Muslim princess (tulukka-nācchiār) who is enshrined on a panel in the second enclosure, and herself receives regular worship in this citadel of vaishṇava orthodoxy. namperumāḷ himself savours an occasional dish of wheat pancake (‘rōṭi’) spread with butter to acknowledge this connection! The idea of national integration is therefore a way of life with the devotees of shrīranganātha.

In the shrīvaishṇava tradition, shrīranganātha is God Absolute in communication with man, and just to gaze at him fervently (“sadā pashyanti sūrayah”) is fulfilment itself. The Transcendent in proximity of human possibilities, the Deity in person who leads men through life’s mysteries and the duality of distress and delight.

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.

Srirangam