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Source-This post is based on the article “Modi the first serving Prime Minister to visit Srirangam temple” published in “The Hindu” on 20 January 2024.
Why in the news?
The Prime Minister has recently visited Srirangam temple also called the Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple.
About the temple
1. Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple is a Hindu temple dedicated to Ranganatha (a form of Vishnu), located in Srirangam, Tiruchirapalli, Tamil Nadu, India.
2. The temple has the unique distinction of being the foremost among the 108 Divya Desams dedicated to the god Vishnu.
3. The Srirangam temple is the largest temple compound in India and one of the largest religious complexes in the world
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.
What are the architectural features of the temple?
| Style | Dravidian (the temple is glorified by Alvars in their Naalayira Divya Prabhandam) |
| Size | The temple occupies an area of 63 hectares (155 acres) with 81 shrines, 21 towers, 39 pavilions. |
| Shrines | The temple complex includes over 50 shrines dedicated to Vishnu, Lakshmi, as well as various Vaishnava scholars and poets. |
| Mandapa | The Ranganathaswamy Temple has many mandapams like thousand pillar mandapa, garuda mandapa. |
| Gopuram | There are 21 gopurams (tower gateways), among which the towering Rajagopuram (shrine of the main gateway) is the tallest temple tower in Asia |
| Inscriptions | The historic inscriptions at the Ranganathaswamy Temple are in six major Indian languages: Tamil, Sanskrit, Kannada, Telugu, Marathi and Odia. The inscriptions have provided information about South Indian history, culture, economy and social role. |
What is the historical and cultural significance of the temple?
1) The main deity of the temple is mentioned in various Sanskrit literature and epics such as the Ramayana, Mahabharata, Padma Purana, Brahmanda Purana and Garuda Puranam.
2) Medieval scholars like Nathamuni, Ramanuja, Pillai Lokacharya, Vedanta Desika and Manavala Mamunigal are associated with the temple.
3) Bhakti movement- Ranganathaswamy temple is the only one out of the 108 temples that was sung in praise by all the Alvars (follower of Vaishnavism).
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