Srirangam — Ranganatha

vahana: "Garuda (eagle mount)" vahana: "Garuda (eagle mount)"

Srirangam Ranganathaswamy Temple

Foremost of the 108 Divya Desams

Srirangam is the largest functioning Hindu temple complex in the world — 156 acres, 7 concentric enclosures (prakārams), and 21 gopurams. It is the foremost of the 108 Divya Desams — the holiest Vishnu shrines hymned by the 12 Āḻvār poet-saints of the Tamil Srivaishnava tradition.

The deity is Ranganatha — Vishnu reclining on Ananta Śeṣa (the cosmic serpent) between cosmic cycles, on the island of Srirangam between the Kaveri and Kollidam rivers. The island setting is itself part of the theology: the river-goddesses Kaveri and Kollidam flow as garlands around the reclining lord.

The 7 Enclosures

The temple consists of 7 concentric prakārams (walled enclosures), each progressively more sacred — the outermost is a residential and commercial zone, the innermost is the sanctum. The enclosures contain:

• 4,000+ pillars across the thousand-pillared hall and various mandapas
• 21 gopurams (gateway towers), the tallest being the Rajagopuram (72 m / 236 ft — the tallest in Asia, completed 1987)
• 50+ subsidiary shrines to various deities
• A temple tank (Chandra Pushkarini) within the fifth enclosure

Ramanuja's Headquarters

The great theologian Ramanuja (1017–1137 CE) made Srirangam his headquarters and systematised its worship. His body is interred in a shrine within the temple — one of the only instances where a human teacher is enshrined inside a Vishnu sanctum complex. His samādhi shrine is in the fourth prakāram.

The 1323 Sack

In 1323, Ulugh Khan (later Muhammad bin Tughlaq) led the Delhi Sultanate's army to Srirangam. The temple was sacked; 12,000 Śrīvaiṣṇavas were killed. The utsava mūrti (processional deity) was smuggled to Tirumala and kept safe for 60 years. When the deity was returned, the Padma Saṃhitā records a grand re-consecration.