1323 CE ---> 12000 ascetics!!!

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Ulugh Khan’s expedition and the sack of Srirangam temple in 1323 CE:

 

Ghiyas-ud-din Tuglaq, the Sultan of Delhi, deputed his eldest son Ulugh Khan to

invade the Hindu kingdoms of South India in 1321 C.E. When the Muslim army of

Ulugh Khan was close to the Srirangam temple, a festival was being conducted, in

the course of which the procession image of Lord Ranganath was taken to a nearby

shrine. The gathered devotees decided to keep the image where it was and the

festival was continued. When the invaders reached Samayapuram,

Srirangarajanathan Vaduldesika, a senior official of the temple, decided that no

time was to be lost, and commanding the 12000 ascetics who had gathered there

not to disperse, he sent away the procession image of the deity in the southern

direction secretly, with Pillai Lokacarya as the guide of the secret party.

Then, he dispatched secretly the image of Sriranga Nacciyar and a few boxes of

treasure with a few attendants to a safe place, locked the doors of the sanctum

sanctorum, barred the doorways of the shrines of both Lord Ranganayaka and Devi

Ranganayika, placed pseudo images outside and then fled to the shrine of

Panvijavian. The invading army desecrated the shrine, killed all the 12000

ascetics, including the great scholar Sri Sundarsana Bhatta. Another sage, Sri

Vedanta Desika, hid himself amongst the corpses together with the sole

manuscript of the Srutaprakasika, the magnum opus of Sri Sudarsana, and also the

latter’s two sons. When the massacre was over, they fled to Satyamangalam in

Mysore, where Sri Vedanta Desika published the Srutaprakasika. It is said that

the image was finally housed in the protected sanctuary of Tirupati,

unfortunately after Pillai Lokacarya Swami left the world, of shock when he

heard of the slaughter of his kith and kin at Srirangam. The Muslim army

occupied the temple precincts and put and an end to Hindu worship. A temple

courtesan, who fascinated the invading general, prevailed upon him not to

destroy the temple altogether, and restrict his vandalism to the destruction of

a few cornices. The Brahmins in the surrounding areas tried to perform the

sacred rituals whenever they could, but were harassed by the occupying Muslim

forces constantly. The general was constantly attacked by disease as long as he

remained in the temple, and so he moved to the nearby Poysalesvara temple, which

he destroyed and erected a fortress at its place. The tale of sack of Srirangam

cannot be complete without the mention of the sacrifice of the temple courtesan.

Unable to bear the harassment of the devotees by the Muslims, she enticed the

Muslim chief, took him up a temple tower in the east, and in the pretext of

showing him a famous icon from there, she pushed him down and killed him.

Scared, that she will be tortured by the Muslims as a result of her deed, she

threw herself also down. According to tradition, to honor her memory, the

funeral pyres of temple courtesans are lit by fire brought from the temple

kitchen.

 

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Courtesy : Vishal Agarwal