Ranganathaswamy Temple, Srirangapatna

By -
If you are traveling in the Mysore region, don't end your trip just by visiting famous places like Mysore Palace, Zoo, Chamundi Hills and Brindavan Gardens. Explore the nearby towns such as Somnathpur, Talakad, and Srirangapatna, the historical cities of Karnataka. This small article is about the ancient temple of Ranganatha Swamy located in Srirangapatna.


Ranganathaswamy temple is the dominating site of Srirangapatna, even though there are other historically significant sites such as Tipu's Summer Palace or Daria Daulat Palace, Juma Masjid, Tipu's tomb, and Tipu's fort. The temple was built by a Ganga chieftain named Tirumalayaraya in 894 CE. Many contributions and expansions to the structure were made by Hoysalas, Vijayanagara kings, and Mysore Wodeyar kings.


Almost all the major islands formed in the Cauvery (Kaveri) river have temples to Lord Sri Ranganathaswamy (Vishnu in the reclining posture). The three towns, which are the islands formed in the Cauvery river, which constitute the main pilgrimage centers dedicated to Ranganathaswamy, are:

Adi Ranga - at Srirangapatna
Madhya Ranga - at Shivanasamudra
Antya Ranga - at Srirangam


In the sanctum, Sri Ranganathaswamy, the presiding deity, is in the reclining posture on the coils of the serpent Adi Sesha. This is the largest Ranganathaswamy icon in the entire state of Karnataka. 

The temple's main entrance has four pillars sculpted with 24 forms of Lord Vishnu. It was constructed during the Vijayanagara period. 

Besides, most of the pillars are in the unique Hoysala style. In front of the main shrine, a monolithic Garuda stambha of the Vijayanagara period is found.


Ranganayaki is the primary goddess of the temple. She is enshrined in a separate shrine. 

The temple also enshrines other deities such as Narasimha with Sudarshana on his backside, Gopalakrishna, Srinivasa, Rama-Sita- Lakshmana, Hanuman, Ramanuja, and Garuda.



The colossal temple has an attractive tower (Rajagopura) visible from almost any part of the town.

Happy travelling.

Visit my site, krishnakumartk.com, to know more about the travel guides and other books that I have written.




Location: Srirangapatna, Karnataka, India

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Tallest Murugan of Chennai

By -
Image
Consecrated in March 2021, the 40 feet high Bala Murugan icon at Saveetha Medical College campus is the tallest image of Murugan in Chennai. Malaysia has 140 feet tall Murugan. In April 2022, the 146 feet tall image of Murugan was consecrated near Salem in Tamil Nadu. However, they are all stucco images. But, the one that we find on the college campus is a monolithic granite icon. Thus, it is the tallest stone icon of Murugan in the entire world. A stone weighing 320 tonnes was brought from Siruvambur near Wallajah, and it was carved to 140 tonnes to get this beautiful and gigantic sculpture. The entire temple complex is designed in the shape of the Devanagiri letter "Om", which can be appreciated in the aerial view.  The west-facing gigantic sculpture is located atop the star-shaped pedestal. It dominates the entire landscape. A large meditation hall is situated below the pedestal. On the open corridor in front of the presiding deity, smaller shrines are found. They enshrine
Read more

Putlur Angala Parameswari Temple - Chennai

By -
Image
Angala Parameswari Temple in Putlur, near  Chennai  city of South India, is a unique temple. The Goddess is in the form of a pregnant woman in this temple. The icon of Angala Parameswari is believed to be self-manifested, called swayambhu.  As per the legend, a village head tortured a poor for borrowed money. The poor was forced to plough an infertile land. While ploughing the ground full of rocks, the villager noticed that blood was oozing out from a particular place. There, he discovered the image of the Goddess. It is a snake hole (putru in Tamil - where snakes live) in the form of a woman in a sleeping posture with her mouth kept open, and her bulged stomach like a pregnant woman. The villagers built a temple with this putru and named the Goddess Angala Parameswari. Hence, they started calling the village Putlur the town with the divine Putru.  Putlur Angala Parameswari temple is basically a village temple. It is visited by thousands of people. Primarily it will be tough to en
Read more

A 17th century Dargah with healing power - Mount Road Dargah, Chennai, India

By -
Image
Mount Road or Anna Salai is one of the most happening places in  Chennai . There are two famous Islamic shrines on Mount Road – one is  Thousands Light mosque . The other one is Dargah-e-Hazrath Syed Moosa Shah Qadri Baghdadi (Rahmatullah Alaihi), also known as Mount Road Dargah. It is the most popular Dargah across the city. It draws devotees of all faiths and all walks of life. Especially every Thursday, a large number of devotees gather to the Dargah. A lot of city-based celebrities regularly visit the site. This Dargah is the shrine of a Muslim Saint named Hazrath Syed Moosa Shah Qadri Baghdadi. He was also known as Rahmatullah Alaihi. Hazrath Syed Moosa Shah Qadri Baghdadi arrived from Baghdad in the middle of the 17th Century CE. He made Chennai his home and lived here. It is believed that he had healing powers. During his time, he had so many devotees regularly visiting him. After his demise, his family buried him next to his house, which is the current Dargah. You can easily lo
Read more