Sri Rangam

To Vibishanan (Brother of Ravana)

To the present place Sri Rangam by the untiring tapas of Dharma Varma (he is also referred as Brahma Dharma), who attended the Aswamedha Yaga of King Dasaratha.  He resolved then and there that he would install this Ranga Vimanam with Lord Ranganatha on the banks of river Cauvery – the kingdom where he ruled.

Let us down get down to the history.

It was Sage Narada who approached Sri Parameshwaran to narrate in detail the foremost of the divya desams in the Bhooloka to which HE had earlier referred to.  To this request Parameshwaran narrated in detail the descent of Lord Narayana as Lord Ranganatha.

Just before the dawn of creation when the entire universe was pitch dark and the dark oceanic waves were lashing, the Lord created Brahma, and gave him Pranava Mantra “Om” diksha.  This mantra combined with “Hari” was the starting point of creation.

In the meanwhile, the two asuras named Madhu, Kaitapan stole the Vedas and hid / converted the same into a female horse.  Lord Narayana took the form of Hayagriva (Hayagriva Avatara) and got back the Vedas.  The Vedas were again handed over to Brahma by Lord Hayagriva.  Brahma once again was entrusted with the work of creation once again.  At the end of creation, Brahma realized the temporary nature of Jeevas and appealed to Lord Narayana and did Tapas.

At that time out of the Tiruparkadal rose the Ranga Vimana with crores of rays emanating from that Vimanam which Brahma saw in arrangement.  As Brahma peeped into the Vimana, he saw all devas, the saptharishis, Ashta Vasus surrounding the Lord lying on the bed of Adisesha.  On appeal, Lord Ranganatha appeared before him and taught him the Ashtakshara mantra and also the methods of worshipping called Pancharatra Agama.  He continued worshipping as ordered by the Lord.

Brahma then called Surya, Devas, Swayambu Manu, Daksha Prajapathi and others and narrated what happened.  To Surya, he handed over the Ranga Vimana with Lord Ranganatha and also the methods of worship.  Surya Bhagavan in course of time handed over this to his son Vaivastha Manu and Manu to his son Ikshavaku.  All this was in Satyaloka.

It was this Raja Ikshavaku who decided that this Ranga Vimana with Lord Ranganatha be brought to Bhooloka.  Towards this end, he started his ferocious tapas in the ashram of Vasishta.  But Brahma was not prepared to part with this wonderful Ranga Vimana and therefore appealed to the Lord Narayana himself.  The Lord asked him to handover the Vimana (but continue his worship towards HIM) to Ikshavaku.  So Brahma came down on his Hamsavahana and did as instructed.

Ikshavaku after thus obtaining the Ranga Vimana with Lord Ranganatha constructed a beautiful temple with compound wall on the banks of river Sarayu and installed the Vimana and the Lord.  He also established hermitages for Sages like Kashyapa, Vamadeva and Vasishta.  He continued his worship of the Lord following the rules and regulations as taught by his ancestor till the end of his life.

This was continued by the Kings of Ikshavaku dynasty.  In this lineage appeared King Dasaratha who had no issues.  Hence, he performed Ashwamedha Yagna.  As a result, he begot four sons – the eldest being Sri Ramachandra.  This Aswamedha Homa was attended by one chola king named Dharma Verma (also known as Dharma Brahma).  He was taken in by the splendor of this Ranga Vimana and Lord Ranganatha so much that he wished the people of his state / kingdom would worship this Ranganatha.  He therefore wished that he could install this Vimana in his state on the banks of river Cauvery.  The only way to bring HIM is to do tapas and he sat in meditation on the banks of Chandra Pushkarini.

The munis / rishis requested him to stop these tapas as the day was not far off when Lord Ranganatha would come here.  They also narrated the story of how the place near Chandra Pushkarini became a hillock of mud.  When one of the Shiva devotees was plucking flowers for the worship of Lord Shiva, the then ruling Chola raja took away by force one of the flowers meant for Shiva Pooja.  So Lord Shiva cursed that the entire place be covered with mud.  That town became a forest of mud. On the north side of this place, lived a disciple of Pulasthiya Muni called Talapya Muni.  He was frequently troubled by an asura named Vyagram who lived in Neelivanam.  He was troubling other munis who were living there also.  Lord Narayana killed the asura and gave darshan to the Munis.  They requested the Lord to stay back.  The Lord replied ‘I shall be born as the son of King Dasaratha and when I come to vanquish Ravana, the Vimana will be handed over to Vibhishana, the brother of Ravana.  Vibhishana shall leave ME here and I shall stay back.  Dharma varma gave up his penance and waited for the D-Day.

When Sri Ramachandra killed Ravana and returned to Ayodhya during his pattabhishekam, he handed over the priceless gift of Ranga Vimana with Lord Ranganatha to Vibhishana with a request you to continue the worship as done earlier by his ancestors.

Vibhishana having received the holy Ranga Vimana with Lord Ranganatha put on his head started his travel to Sri Lanka.  As he was travelling, he happened to reach this place Dharmarangam during mid-day.  Vibhishana wanted to perform his mid-day nityanushatanam and so he placed the Ranga Vimana on the banks of river Cauvery on Anantha Peeta.

Hearing that pooja was being offered to Lord Ranganatha on the banks of river Cauvery by Vibhishana who had arrived there, King Dharma Verma came running to witness the same.

The pooja was witnessed by Rishis / Munis and hundreds of other devotees.  Dharma Verma requested Vibhishana to leave the Ranga Vimana with the Lord Ranganatha for a few days here for the people of his state to offer worship to the Lord, but Vibhishana refused.

He thought tomorrow I should perform Brahmotsava in Sri Lanka and therefore I should leave in the early hours.  Dharma Verma came to know about the impending Brahmotsava celebrations and therefore appealed to Vibhishana to perform the same here and then leave for Sri Lanka with his prized possession.  The King was keen on his subjects enjoying the celebrations and also benefit by it.  So once again on Vibhishana agreeing to perform the Brahmotsava celebrations here, Dharma Verma thanked him and proceeded to make all necessary arrangements.  The celebrations went on in a grant manner and people were very happy.

Vibhishana now wanted to take leave of Dharma Verma and proceed to Sri Lanka.  With that intention he tried to lift the Ranga Vimana and to his surprise the Vimana would not move an inch.

Lord Ranganatha appeared before him and said ‘Vibhishana, I would like to remain here and fulfill my promise to Dharma Verma to adorn this place on the banks of river Cauvery.  I am highly pleased with your fervor and sincerity and so I grant the boom that you will join one in Brahmaloka after your exit from this Bhooloka.  I shall stay here facing your state.  Please go to Sri Lanka and continue your worship of ME.

This Chola King then built Gopuras, Big Compound wall around the temple, tanks and established a Nandavana.  He continued the worship of Ranganatha following the norms laid down by his predecessors.

It was thus that the Ranga Vimana and Lord Ranganatha arrived in this town and the town came to be called SRIRANGAM.  In the middle of the town, the Lord gives darshan to his devotees (in a lying posture) on the bed of Adisesha.  The Vimana in Pranavakara Vimanas it was the Lord HIMSELF, who gave the diksha of Pranava Mantra to Lord Brahma.

Hundreds of years after the exit of Dharma Verma, the place got covered with mud upto the stupi of river Cauvery and the place looked like a desert - a wide stretch of mud laden land.

One of the Chola Kings who was ruling at this period went hunting one day.  At the end of hunting, he was tired and so he took shelter under one of the trees.  As he was relaxing a parrot seated on one of the branches of the tree went on repeating a few lines of a verse, the meaning of which he could not comprehend.  He went to his palace and consulted scholars.  Nobody could enlighten the King.

That night the Lord appeared in his dream, “I am there lying beneath the tree, Please take me out”.  The King then next day ordered that the mud around the tree be removed.  As they dug, they saw the Ranga Vimana.  The Vimana with the Lord Ranganatha was brought up.  The King made necessary arrangements to repair the first prakara, got the entire sand removed, dug up the rivers.  Then the aradhana was performed for the Lord and continued the same.  He renovated the entire place.

Since the King listened to the parrot’s voice and brought up Lord Ranganatha hidden in the sand, he was called “Kiliraja Chozhan”.  As a mark in his memory, a mantap was built near the perumal sannidhi and called as “Kili Mantap”. (Kili – Parrot)

The seven prakaras in this temple represent the seven lokas – Bhoo, Bhuva, Suva, Mahar, Jano, Tapo and Satya (Garba Gruha).  The eight directions are supposed to represent the eight devas.

Then there is the Kulasekara Padi who preferred to remain as a step (Padi) as a achetana object wherever Tirumal’s archavata moorthy was installed.  Then there is the Thirvadi Chayal.  Everything about this temple is considered big starting from the Perumal to snacks made here.

There are magnificent pillars at the temple with intricate carvings.  Then there is the thousand pillared mantapam (Ayiram Kaal Mantapam).  Perhaps this is a replica of what is witnessed in Sri Vaikuntam and this may be one of the reasons this temple is called Bhooloka Vaikuntam.  The Gayathri mantapa has 24 pillars, each representing a letter of the gayathri mantra.  The two pillars near the sanctum sanctorum are named Kalyana or Tirumana Thoon.  These two pillars have been praised by Kulasekara Azhvar.

Details of Divya Prabhanda Pasurams sung by 11* Azhvars on Sri Ranganatha Perumal