SRI RANGANATHA SWAMI
ka:ve:ri: viraja: se:yam vaikuntam ranga mandiram
sa va:sude:vo range:sah pratyaksham paramam padam
vima:nam pranava:ka:ram ve:da srungam maha:dbhutam
sri:ranga sa:yi: bhagawa:n pranava:rtha praka:sakah
The river Kaveri in Srirangam is the very same Viraja River flowing in Vaikuntam and the temple in Srirangam is Vaikuntam itself, the abode of Lord Vishnu. The Lord of Srirangam is none other than Lord Para Vasudeva himself from Parama Padam. The fascinating Vimanam is in the form of O:mka:ra - the life sustaining mantra. The towers of the Srirangam temple are like the Vedas and the Lord Ranganatha is enunciating the importance of the Pranavam (O:mka:ra)
Lord Srimannarayana created Lord Brahma to in turn create the universe. Brahma saw Lord Srimannarayana reclining on the five-headed Adisesha and was so mesmerized by this divine sight that he prayed to the Lord to replicate this form into a stone deity for his daily worship. Thus the deity form, called “Sri Ranganatha” was incarnated by Srimannarayana himself, and Brahma was worshiping the deity daily in Satyaloka.
Ikshvaku, the renowned emperor of Surya vansham dynasty, performed a severe penance to please Brahma. To reward Ikshvaku, Brahma gave him the Sri Ranganatha deity. Until and during Lord Rama’s era in Treta Yuga, all the emperors of Surya vansham worshiped Lord Ranganatha in their puja mandir as their hereditary God (kula-daivam). Thus, Lord Ranganatha is also called Ikshvaku Kula Dhanam. After being crowned as emperor of Ayodhya, Lord Rama gifted Sri Ranganatha to Vibhishana as a token of his gratitude.
On the way back to Lanka, Vibhishana carried Sri Ranganatha on his head. Noting the time, he placed Sri Ranganatha on a beautiful island in the middle of river Kaveri so that he may perform Sandhya Vandanam. To his surprise, the deity could not be lifted anymore. Lord Ranganatha promised Vibhishana that he would eternally gaze towards Lanka. Therefore, we find Lord Ranganatha reclining on Adisesha facing South. The island on which the Lord resides in reclining posture is called Srirangam.
Since then, several kings have built a large temple around the deity. Srirangam is the first and foremost of 108 Divya Desams, praised by all of the 12 Alwars, and also the first and foremost of the eight “Swayam Vyakta Kshetras” (self-manifested holy places of Lord Vishnu), the others being Tirumala, Badrinath, Muktinath, Srimushnam, Vanamamalai, Naimisharanyam and Pushkar.
The Srirangam temple is the largest functioning Hindu temple in the world spanning 156 acres