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The Story Of Srirangam

On the occasion of Vaikunta Ekadashi, I thought of posting the story of Srirangam. Srirangam , which is a town in Southern India has the famous temple of Sri Ranganatha or Lord Vishnu.

There is an interesting story on how the Lord Ranga came to stay at this place on the banks of the Cauvery River.

The ‘Ranga Vimaanam’ consisting of the reclining ‘Murti’ of Lord Vishnu on Adisesha, along with his consorts in his chamber was being worshipped by King Ikshwaku, who was the ancestor of Sri Rama.

This Ranga Vimaanam is believed to have been manifested by Lord Vishnu himself and gifted to Brahma for his worship. King Ikshwaku had obtained that from Lord Brahma and it came to be the family deity of the Ikshwaku clan.

As we all know, King Dasaratha who came in the line of Ikshwaku kings, conducted the Ashwamedha and the Putrakameshti yagyas for begetting children. He had invited all kings from all over the country and one Chola king from the South by name Dharmavarman also attended the sacrifice. He was mesmerised by the Ranga Vimaanam possessed by King Dasaratha and wanted to take it to his kingdom in the South. However King Dasaratha was not willing to part with his family deity and offered Dharmavarman other gifts instead.

Dharmavarman, disappointed, returned to his kingdom and started to do penance to attain the Ranga Vimaanam.

In the course of time King Dasaratha had four sons Rama, Lakshmana, Bharatha and Shatrugna and we all know the story of Rama. Now, after Rama came back from Lanka and his coronation performed, was giving away gifts to all who were present.

Vibheeshana, the brother of Ravana, was also attracted to the Ranga Vimaanam, which was now being propitiated by Lord Rama. He asked permission from the Lord to take the Ranga Vimaanam with him to Sri Lanka. The Lord granted his wish but told him that it should not be kept down at any cost till it reached the final destination, that is Lanka.  Once kept down, it would remain grounded and could not be moved.

Vibheeshana agreed and left for Lanka with the Vimaanam.

Dharmavarman had prayed hard all these years that he should get the Ranga Vimaanam to his Kingdom. His prayers were to be answered shortly.

As Vibheeshana was crossing Southern India, he remembered he had to perform his evening prayers. He looked around and saw a boy there. The boy was none other than Lord Ganesha. Vibheeshana called the boy and told him to hold the Vimaanam till such time he finished his prayers. He specifically told him not to keep it down at any cost. The boy nodded his head and took the Vimaanam from Vibheeshana.

After a while, the boy called out to Vibheeshana thrice. Vibheeshana was deeply engrossed in his prayers and did not respond. The boy kept the Vimaanam down and ran away. When Vibheeshana finished his prayers, he was alarmed to find the Vimaanam placed on the ground and try as he might, it would not come off from the ground. It was stuck there. Vibheeshana was extremely sad and disappointed.

Lord Narayana, then appeared before him and told him that He would stay there but He would always have His eyes resting on Lanka from there.

And therefore, the Lord lies majestically at Srirangam, with His head on the Western Side and eyes looking to the south. The entrance to the temple is also from the south and the sanctum also faces the southern direction.

Dharmavarman was greatly pleased and built a nice temple around the Vimaanam and was worshipping the same. Years passed by and over time the Cholas had shifted their capital to Tanjore. As it happens always, the fury of nature prevailed, and in the course of time, the temple was buried under the sands and its existence became unknown. Dense forests had grown over the soil not leaving a trace of the temple buried underneath.

After many years, a young Chola prince who went hunting near the Cauvery river was resting under a tree when he heard a parrot say a sloka in chaste sanskrit about a temple being buried underneath. The prince was surprised and tried to excavate, but could not find anything. Dejected, he started to build a new temple in the spot. The next day, Lord Narayana appeared in his dream and guided him as to where the He exactly lay buried.

Overjoyed, the prince excavated in the spot and found the temple with everything intact. With great happiness and devotion he restored the temple to its earlier glory. The prince henceforth came to be known as Kili Cholan as he had acted according to the parrot’s directions.

This is the story of Sri Rangam.

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16 Comments

  1. Ram Mohan Narasimhan

    Nice story

  2. Usha

    VIdya there is also something in the story which tells you why Ganesha settled on top of Rockfort. Let me know. Nice story as always.

  3. sridhar

    I guess yhis would be the sloka the parrot uttered…

    āyiram viritteḻu talaiyuṭai aruntiṟaṟ pāyaṟ paḷḷip
    palartoḻu tētta viritiraik kāviri viyaṉperu
    turuttit tiruvamar mārpaṉ kiṭanta vaṇṇamum

    On a magnificent cot having a thousand heads spread out, worshipped and praised by many, in an islet surrounded by Kaveri with bellowing waves, is the lying posture of the one who has Lakshmi sitting in his chest

  4. Nice story madam, Thanks for the narration. God bless.
    – @Soundararajan

  5. Haridas Varya Das

    Vidhyaa, Nice story. The only request is if you could replace the word ‘idol’ with ‘deity’ in your writings whenever you refer to the Lord would be appreciated. We do not perform idol worship, we perform deity worship. Hope it makes sense.
    Regards, Haridas Varya Das

    • Thank you Haridasji for your suggestion. I will certainly take it into account and change it where appropriate. Thank you.

    • Srilakshmi K

      Hi Vidhyaa,
      can you tell please where did you find this story?

    • Sri Lakshmi Ji, there are various references. The Ramayana states that the Kula Devata of the Ikshvakus was Lord Ranganatha. I have heard this story in musical discourses about the greatness of Srirangam. Generally I narrate what I have heard or read or a combination of both and of course do research as well.

  6. Balaji sampath

    Vidhya
    I am very happy that some one has reminded that the deity should not be referred to as idol. Sri Renga is narayana himself and hence pls refer to him as deity.
    Regards
    Balaji

  7. Chandana Priya

    Hi!
    Thank you so much for the story. But this story reminds me of a very similar story of Murudeshwara where Ravana had to carry the Atma Linga to Lanka and in order to perform his evening penance, lord Ganesha appears in the form of a small boy and the rest of the story remains the same as the one narrated above.

  8. Jayalakshmi

    Nice as usual
    also it is heartening to see so many relevant comments
    great going dear
    this story was apparently narrated by you almost 10 years back
    could u find what Usha has asked about Lord Ganesha 🙏

    • Thank you Jaya. Yes the legend goes that Vibheeshana chased the boy as he ran up the adjacent Rocky hill and there he came to know that it was Ganesha. That temple is Uchi Pillayar temple.

  9. Gomathi S

    Nice to read the story nearly after 10 years you have written it. You are doing a great work by documenting these great stories.Thanks Vidhya. Kee it up .

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