SRIRANGAM

[Guest guest]

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.

 

/To continue...