| Ranganathaswamy Temple Srirangam | |
|---|---|
திருவரங்கம் அரங்கநாத சுவாமி கோயில் | |
 Srirangam Temple gopurams | |
| Religion | |
| Affiliation | Hinduism |
| District | Tiruchirapalli |
| Deity | Ranganatha (Vishnu), Ranganayaki (Lakshmi)[1] |
| Festivals |
|
| Features |
|
| Location | |
| Location | Srirangam |
| State | Tamil Nadu |
| Country | India |
  Location in Tamil Nadu  Ranganathaswamy Temple, Srirangam (Tamil Nadu) | |
| Geographic coordinates | 10°51′45″N 78°41′23″E / 10.86250°N 78.68972°E |
| Architecture | |
| Type | Tamil[3] |
| Creator | Early Cholas, Medieval Cholas, Later Cholas, Pandyas, Vijayanagara Empire |
| Inscriptions | over 600[note 1] |
| Website | |
| http://www.srirangam.org/ | |
| Part of a series on |
| Vaishnavism |
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The Ranganathaswamy Temple is a Hindu temple dedicated to Ranganatha (a form of Vishnu) and his consort Ranganayaki (a form of Lakshmi). The temple is located in Srirangam, Tiruchirapalli, Tamil Nadu, India.[4] Constructed in the Dravidian architectural style, the temple is glorified by the Tamil poet-saints called the Alvars in their canon, the Naalayira Divya Prabhandam,[5] and has the unique distinction of being the foremost among the 108 Divya Desams dedicated to the god Vishnu. The Srirangam temple stands as the largest religious complex in the world with a continuous historical presence as a Hindu temple.[4][6] Some of these structures have been renovated, expanded and rebuilt over the centuries as a living temple. The latest addition is the outer tower that is approximately 73 metres (240 ft) tall, it was completed in 1987 by ahobila mutt.[7] Srirangam temple is listed as the largest functioning Hindu temple in the world, the still larger Angkor Wat being the largest existing temple.[8][9] The temple is an active Hindu house of worship and follows the Tenkalai tradition of Sri Vaishnavism. Priests of this temple follow pancharatra tradition, and belong to the vadakalai or tenkalai traditions. The annual 21-day festival conducted during the Tamil month of Margali (December–January) attracts 1 million visitors. The temple complex has been nominated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and is in UNESCO's tentative list.[4] In 2017 the temple won the UNESCO Asia Pacific Award of Merit 2017 for cultural heritage conservation, making it the first temple in Tamil Nadu to receive the award from the UNESCO.[10][11]
It is among the most illustrious Vaishnava temples in India rich in legend and history. Beyond the ancient textual history, archaeological evidence such as inscriptions refer to this temple, and these stone inscriptions are from late 100 BCE to 100 CE.[12] Hence, "making it one of the oldest surviving active temple complexes in South India".[12] The deity finds a mention in the Sanskrit epic Ramayana which is dated around 800 to 400 BCE which also pushes the existence of deity to the same era.[13][14][15][16][17][18] The temple has played an important role in Vaishnava history starting with the 11th-century career of Ramanuja and his predecessors Nathamuni and Yamunacharya in Srirangam.[19] Its location, on an island between the Kollidam and Kaveri rivers,[4] has rendered it vulnerable to flooding as well as the rampaging of invading armies which repeatedly commandeered the site for military encampment.[20] The temple was looted and destroyed by the Delhi Sultanate armies in a broad plunder raid on various cities of the Pandyan kingdom in the early 14th century. The temple was rebuilt in the late 14th century,[21][22] the site fortified and expanded with many more gopurams in the 16th and 17th centuries.[23][24] It was one of the hubs of early Bhakti movement with a devotional singing and dance tradition, but this tradition stopped during the 14th century and was revived in a limited way much later.[25]
The temple occupies an area of 63 hectares (155 acres) with 81 shrines, 21 towers, 39 pavilions, and many water tanks integrated into the complex.[4][6] The temple town is a significant archaeological and epigraphical site, providing a historic window into the early and mid medieval South Indian society and culture. Numerous inscriptions suggest that this Hindu temple served not only as a spiritual center, but also a major economic and charitable institution that operated education and hospital facilities, ran a free kitchen, and financed regional infrastructure projects from the gifts and donations it received.[4][26][note 2]
- ^ Roshen Dalal 2010, pp. 339–340.
- ^ Aguilar, Rafael; Torrealva, Daniel; Moreira, Susana; Pando, Miguel A.; Ramos, Luis F. (2018). Structural Analysis of Historical Constructions: An Interdisciplinary Approach. Springer. ISBN 9783319994413. Retrieved 26 February 2019.
- ^ Stella Kramrisch 1988, p. 202-204 with footnotes.
- ^ a b c d e f g Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple, Srirangam, UNESCO
- ^ David N. Lorenzen 2005, pp. 52–54, 87–93.
- ^ a b Mittal & Thursby 2005, p. 456.
- ^ Mittal & Thursby 2005, p. 457.
- ^ Vater 2010, p. 40.
- ^ Jones 2004, p. 4.
- ^ "UNESCO award for Srirangam temple". The Hindu. November 2017.
- ^ "Srirangam temple wins UNESCO award for cultural heritage conservation". 2 November 2017.
- ^ a b Sircar 1979, p. 64.
- ^ Valmiki Ramayana, Ayodhya kanda, sarga 6, sloka 1, 2 and 3
- ^ "Content | Valmiki Ramayanam".
- ^ "Srirangam temple rich with elaborate details". The Hindu. 3 April 2014.
- ^ "Villiputturar's narrative". The Hindu. 30 October 2015.
- ^ Menon 2008, pp. 10–11.
- ^ "Was Ram born in Ayodhya?".
- ^ Spencer 1978, pp. 16–19.
- ^ Spencer 1978, pp. 14–19.
- ^ Hopkins 2002, pp. 68–69.
- ^ Spencer 1978, pp. 19–21, Quote: "It was Malik Kafur's spectacular southern raid of 1310-11 CE which resulted in the initial plundering of the Srirangam, Chidambaram, and other famous temples of the Tamil country.".
- ^ Abdur Rahman 1999, pp. 377–378.
- ^ George Michell & Clare Arni 1999, pp. 76–77.
- ^ T.S. Parthasarathy (1978), Music and Dance in Tamil Literature, Indian Literature, Vol. 21, No. 4, pages 137-148; Quote: "The hymns of the Divyaprabandham bad also been set to music and were being sung till the 14th century when the sack of Srirangam by Malik Kafur put an end to the practice."
- ^ [a] VN Hari Ram (1961), Services in Srirangam Temple, Proceedings of the Indian History Congress, Volume 24, pages 89-92;
[b] Trouillet, Pierre-Yves (2017). "Hindu Temples and Development of Localities in Tamil Nadu (South India)". Exploring Urban Change in South Asia (PDF). Springer. pp. 311–334. doi:10.1007/978-81-322-3616-0_12. ISBN 978-81-322-3614-6. - ^ Burton Stein, The Economic Function of a Medieval South Indian Temple, The Journal of Asian Studies, Vol. 19, pages 163-176;
Burton Stein (1961), The state, the temple and agriculture development, The Economic Weekly Annual, pages 179-187
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