Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple

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Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple

Varun singh

Ujjawal Tyagi

Ajit Rao

Aashna Kathpalia

Vivek Chaudhary

Section- A

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Year, Semester- 5

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The Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple or Tiruvarangam is a Hindu temple. dedicated to Ranganatha, a reclining

form of Hindu deity, Vishnu located in Srirangam, Tiruchirapalli, Tamil Nadu, India . Constructed in

the Dravidian style of architecture, this temple is glorified in the Divya Prabandha, the early medieval Tamil

literature canon of the Alvar saints from the 6th9th centuries CE and is counted as the first and foremost

among the 108 Divya Desams dedicated to Vishnu.

Architecture

The temple is enclosed by 7 concentric walls (termedprakarams (outer courtyard) or mathil suvar) with a

total length of 32,592 feet or over six miles. These temple has 21 gopurams (towers), 39 pavilions, fifty

shrines,Ayiram kaal mandapam (a hall of 1000 pillars) and several small water bodies inside. The space

within the outer twoprakarams (outer courtyard) is occupied by several shops, restaurants and flower

stalls. Non-Hindus are allowed up to the secondprakaram (outer courtyard) but not inside the gold topped

sanctum sanctorum.Though the term Kovilis generally used in Tamil to signify any temple, for many Vaishnavas the term Kovil

exclusively refers to this temple, indicating its extreme importance for them (for saivas and all other Tamil

people the term kovilrefers to Thilai Natarajar Golden Shrine (Chidambaram Temple)). The presiding deity

Ranganathar is praised in many names by his devotees, including Nam Perumal(our god in Tamil),Azhagiya

Manavalan (beautiful groom in Tamil).
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Shrines

The vimanam (shrine over the sanctum sanctorum), the Ranga vimana[8] is shaped like omkara (om symbol)

and is plated with gold.[9] Sri Ranganthar reclines on Adisesha, the coiled serpent, and at his feet sits

Ranganayaki. Images ofVibhishana, Brahma, Hanuman, Garuda, the symbols of Vishnu conch and discuss

are seen inside the sanctum.[10] Ranganayaki shrine is in the second precint of the temple. The common

reference to the goddess ispadi thaanda pathni, meaning lady who doesn't cross the boundaries of ethics.Literally, the festival deity of Ranganayaki also does not come out of the shrine and it is Ranganthar who

visits Ranganayaki. There are three images of Ranganayaki within the sanctum.

The complex houses shrines of dozens of forms of Vishnu

including Chakkarathazhwar, Narasimha, Rama, Hayagreeva and Gopala Krishna. There are separate shrines

for Ranganayaki and the major saints in the Vaishnava tradition, including Ramanuja. The Venugopala shrine

in the south-west corner of the fourth enclosure of the temple is the work ofChokkanatha Nayak. An

inscription of 1674 specifies this Nayak king as the patron. The exterior of the vimana andattached mandap(hall) have finely worked pilasters with fluted shafts, double capitals and pendant lotus

brackets. Sculptures are placed in the niches of three sides of the sanctuary walls; maidens enhance the

walls in between. The elevation is punctuated with secondary set of pilasters that support shallow eaves at

different levels to cap larger and smaller recesses. The sanctuary is crowned in the traditional fashion with a

hemisphrical roof. The double-curved eaves of the entrance porch on the east side are concealed in a later

columned hall.[11]Dhanvantari, a great physician of ancient India is considered to be an incarnation of

Vishnu

there is a separate shrine of Dhanvantari within the temple.[12]
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Halls

Hall or 1000 pillars with sculptures of riding horses

The Hall of 1000 pillars (actually 953) is a fine example of a planned theatre-

like structure and opposite to it, "Sesha Mandap", with its intricacy in

sculpture, is a delight.[according to whom?] The 1000-pillared hall made of

granite[13] was constructed in the Vijayanagara period (13361565) on the site

of the old temple.[14][15] The pillars consists of sculptures of wildly rearinghorses bearing riders on their backs and trampling with their hoofs upon the

heads of rampant tigers, seem only natural and congruous among such weird

surroundings.[16] The great hall is traversed by one wide aisle in the centre for

the whole of its greater length, and intersected by transepts of like dimension

running across at right angles. There still remain seven side aisles on each side,

in which all the pillars are equally spaced out.[17] TheGaruda Madapa (hall of

the legendary bird deity of Vishnu, garuda) located on the south side of thethird enclosure is another Nayak addition. Courtly portrait sculptures, reused

from an earlier structure, are fixed to the piers lining the central aisle. A free-

standing shrine inside the hall contains a large seated figure ofgaruda; the

eagle-headed god faces north towards the principal sanctum.[11] The Kili

mandapa (Hall of parrot) is located next to the Ranganatha shrine, in the first

enclosure of the temple. Elephant balustrades skirt the access steps that

ascend to a spacious open area. This is bounded by decorated piers with

rearing animals and attached colonettes in the finest 17th-century manner.

Four columns in the middle define a raised dais; their shafts are embellished

with undulating stalks.[11]The most artistically interesting[according to whom?] of the

halls that the Nayaks added to the complex is the Sesha Mandap on the east

side of the fourth enclosure. The hall is celebrated for the leaping animals

carved on to the piers at its northern end.[11]

Hall or 1000 pillars with sculptures of riding horses
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Avoid_weasel_wordshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sri_Ranganathaswamy_Temple,_Srirangamhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vijayanagarahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sri_Ranganathaswamy_Temple,_Srirangamhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sri_Ranganathaswamy_Temple,_Srirangamhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sri_Ranganathaswamy_Temple,_Srirangamhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garudahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sri_Ranganathaswamy_Temple,_Srirangamhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sri_Ranganathaswamy_Temple,_Srirangamhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Avoid_weasel_wordshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sri_Ranganathaswamy_Temple,_Srirangamhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sri_Ranganathaswamy_Temple,_Srirangamhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Avoid_weasel_wordshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sri_Ranganathaswamy_Temple,_Srirangamhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sri_Ranganathaswamy_Temple,_Srirangamhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garudahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sri_Ranganathaswamy_Temple,_Srirangamhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sri_Ranganathaswamy_Temple,_Srirangamhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sri_Ranganathaswamy_Temple,_Srirangamhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vijayanagarahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sri_Ranganathaswamy_Temple,_Srirangamhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Avoid_weasel_words


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Gopurams

Vellai gopurams(tower)

There are 21 gopurams (tower gateways), among which the towering 236-feet Rajagopuram (shrine of the main

gateway) is the second tallest temple tower in Asia. The 73m high 13- tiered rajagopuram was built in 1987

by Ahobila Mutt and dominates the landscape for miles around, while the remaining 20 gopurams were built

between the 14th and 17th centuries. The gopurams have pronounced projections in the middle of the long

sides, generally with openings on each of the successive levels. The Vellai gopura (white tower) on the east sideof the fourth enclosure has a steep pyramidal superstructure that reaches a height of almost 44m. [11]

The structure of the rajagopuram remained incomplete at the base ('kalkaram', 17 meters high), for over 400

years. Started during the reign ofAchyuta Deva Raya ofVijayanagar, the construction was given up after the

king's death and apparently was not resumed owing to some political preoccupations or crisis. The Rajagopuram

(the maingopuram) did not reach its current height of 73 m. until 1987, when the 44th Jeer of Ahobila

Mutt[18] initiated the process with the help of philanthropists and others. The whole structure was constructed

in a span of eight years. The Rajagopuram was consecrated on 25 March 1987. [18][19] The length and breadth atthe base of the Rajagopuram is 166 feet and 97 feet, while the length and breadth at the top is 98 feet and 32

feet. Befitting the gargantuan dimensions of the structure, every one the 13 glistening copper 'kalasams' atop

the tower weighs 135 kg and measures 3.12m (height) by 1.56m (diameter).

Rajagopuram (Main

tower)
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Temple Philosophy:

The Temple follows the Visishtadvaita Philosophy as given by Bhagavad Sri Ramanujacharya, as elaborated

by Sri NigamAntha Maha Desika and as currently followed by the Jeers of Sri Ahobila Mutt, India. ALL

devotees, irrespective of their birth or current status have an equal opportunity to reach the Lotus Feet of

the Lord in Sri Vaikuntham (Moksham) by following the path of SaraNagathi, or Absolute Surrender to

Lord Sriman Narayana.

A Unique Temple with Yatha-Sakthi Concept:

After clearing the construction loan of nearly $1,800,000, this Temple adopted a New Policy of YATHA-

SAKTHI (effective from January 2007) for all scheduled poojas in the Temple, like: No ticket system for any

number of Archanas at all sannidhis on all days, No ticket for any Abhishekam to all Dieties on all

Scheduled days, No ticket for Sri Srinivasa kalyaNam on all Saturdays and Sundays, No ticket for Sri Satya

Narayana Pooja on all Full-Moon days at 6 PM, and No ticket for all the wonderful prasadams on all days(as part of Nithya-Anna-dhanam project). The Temple continues to follow the No-Ticket (Yatha-Sakthi)

system which has been well received and supported by all of its thousands of devotees.

Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple

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