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 ‘Murti’ of Lord Vishnu, by name Ranga Vimaanam, was being worshipped by King Ikshwaku, who was the ancestor of Sri Rama. As we all know, King Dasaratha 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 Vishnu Murti possessed by King Dasaratha and wanted to take it to his kingdom in the South. However King Dasaratha was not willing to part with the Murti which he had acquired as ancestral property. Dharmavarman, disappointed returned to his kingdom and started to do penance to attain the Murti.
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 present. Vibheeshana, the brother of Ravana, who was also attracted to the Murti, which was now being propitiated by Lord Rama, asked permission from the Lord to take the Ranga Vimaanam with him to Sri Lanka. The Lord granted his wish but told him that the Murti should not be kept down at any cost as it would not be possible to take it back, once kept down. Vibheeshana agreed and left for Lanka with the Murti.
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 Murti till such time he finished his ablutions. He specifically told him not to keep it down at any cost. The boy nodded his head and took the Murti (Ranga Vimaanam) from Vibheeshana.
After a while, the boy called out to Vibheeshana thrice and when Vibheeshana was deeply engrossed in his prayers, kept the Murti down and ran away. When Vibheeshana finished his prayers, he was alarmed to find the Murti 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 to 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 in Srirangam, with his head on the Western Side and eyes seeing 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 Murti 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 Lord exactly lay. Overjoyed, the prince excavated in the spot and found the temple with its deity.
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.
Ram Mohan Narasimhan
Nice story
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.
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
Soundararajan
Nice story madam, Thanks for the narration. God bless.
– @Soundararajan
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
K.R.Vidhyaa
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?
krvidhyaa
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.
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
krvidhyaa
Thank you Sir!
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.
krvidhyaa
Yeah. True. We get listen to similar stories in many places. Thanks for reading and your compliment.