Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple

Varun singh Ujjawal Tyagi Ajit Rao Aashna Kathpalia Vivek Chaudhary Section- A 3rd Year, Semester- 5th

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 (termed prakarams (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 two prakarams (outer courtyard) is occupied by several shops, restaurants and flower stalls. Non-Hindus are allowed up to the second prakaram (outer courtyard) but not inside the gold topped sanctum sanctorum. Though the term Kovil is 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 kovil refers 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).

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 of Vibhishana, 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 is padi 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 of Chokkanatha Nayak. An inscription of 1674 specifies this Nayak king as the patron. The exterior of the vimana and attached 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]

Halls Hall or 1000 pillars with sculptures of riding horses The Hall of 1000 pillars (actually 953) is a fine example of a planned theatrelike 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 rearing horses 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 the third enclosure is another Nayak addition. Courtly portrait sculptures, reused from an earlier structure, are fixed to the piers lining the central aisle. A freestanding shrine inside the hall contains a large seated figure of garuda; 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

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 side of 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 of Achyuta Deva Raya of Vijayanagar, 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 at the 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)

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 YATHASAKTHI (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.