Ranganatha Swamy Temple, Srirangapatna

The city of Kashi is filled with temples, big and small, old and new. There are temples at every corner, and you never know where you will stumble upon a small shrine. There are idols beneath what remains of trees (there are hardly any trees any more within the core area of the city), there are saffron covered forms resembling deities which seem attached to walls, an especially incongruous sight when the idol itself appears to be old, while the wall is evidently new…. And there are surprisingly large temples rising from what appear to be a bunch of houses. The city is sometimes colloquially said to be as old as time, and some of the shrines and temples are said to date back to times unknown, at least the deity itself, if not the structure. Not much remains of the ancient structures anyway. The city has seen more than its fair share of good and bad times. It has seen the heights of grandeur, and the lows brought about by destruction. The city that exists today has grown so haphaza...

Ranganatha Swamy Temple, Srirangapatna

In a time long, long back, even before temples were built, certain sites were considered sacred. Among such sites are the islands on the Kaveri, which were marked out as abodes of Lord Vishnu. It is said, that when the Kaveri flowed down from Agasthya’s kamandalu, free and unbound, she asked a boon from Lord Vishnu, that she be considered more sacred than the Ganga. And Vishnu agreed. He replied, “The Ganga flows from my feet. You, Kaveri, are my garland! And it is thus she flows, around these islands demarcated for Him, like a garland, sanctifying the land, and those of us who visit, with her mere presence. The first among these islands is Srirangapatna, near Mysore.

Lord Ranganatha here is called Adi Ranga – the first among the Ranganathas, since there are more such abodes of his, downstream. The temple here is an ancient one, first built by a Ganga chieftain, Tirumalaraya, in 894 AD. The temple was later expanded by the Hoysalas, the Vijayanagara kings, the Wodeyars, and finally, Hyder Ali. The Hoysala and Vijayanagara influences are clearly evident, especially in the pillars and columns.

The entry to the sanctum is through a mandapa, which is decorated with various forms of Vishnu. Unfortunately, photography is not allowed inside the temple, and the outside was under renovation when we visited, so I do not have many photos to show you.

The main sanctum has a massive idol depicting Lord Vishnu reclining on the seven hooded Adishesha, his consort, Lakshmi at his feet, and other deities flanking him. This is said to be the biggest Ranganatha idol in Karnataka.

Interestingly, as I mentioned before, all the major islands on the Kaveri are dedicated to Ranganatha Swamy, and there are three such island temples –

The first is this temple, at Srirangapatna, 15 Km from Mysore, called Adi Ranga.

The second , Madhya Ranga, is at Shivanasamudra, 60 Km from Mysore, better known for its waterfalls.

The third, Antya Ranga, is at Srirangam, near Trichy, and is the biggest and grandest temple of the three!

A single day pilgrimage to these three temples is considered extremely sacred, and is popularly called ‘Tri-ranga Darshanam’.

This map I saw at the temple might be of use to those of you who would like to try out the Tri Ranga Darshanam

Even more interestingly, this temple also figures on another pilgrimage list – the Pancha Ranga Kshetram, or 5 shrines of Lord Rangnatha. These five temples are -

Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple, Srirangapatna, near Mysore
Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple, Srirangam, near Trichy
Sarangapani Temple, Kumbakonam
Sri Appakudathan Temple, Trichy
Sri Parimala Ranganatha Perumal Temple, Mayiladudurai.

The story of the Ranganatha Swamy temple is the ancient story of Srirangapatna. However, the city has more stories to tell … stories from the more recent past, as well as the present. Over the next few weeks, you can look forward to reading more of these stories, so keep coming back!

Information:

Location: Srirangapatna is about 15 Km from Mysore.

Temple Timings: 07:30 AM to 1 PM; 4:00 PM to 8:00 PM

Gokarna Part II – The Five Lingams

We continued our Gokarna trip by visiting four other Shiva temples in the vicinity, all connected to the same story of Gokarna. The story of Gokarna mentions the Mahabaleshwara Lingam as the one brought from Kailas by Ravana, and kept at this place on the ground by Ganesha. (See my earlier post- Gokarna – Pilgrimage and Pleasure). However, the story does not end here. It is believed that, in his anger, Ravana flung aside the materials which covered the lingam- the casket, its lid, the string around the lingam, and the cloth covering it. All these items became lingams as soon as they touched the ground. These four lingams, along with the main Mahabaleshwara lingam are collectively called the ‘ Panchalingams’ . These are: Mahabaleshwara – the main lingam Sajjeshwar – the casket carrying the lingam. This temple is about 35 Kms from Karwar, and is a 2 hour drive from Gokarna. Dhareshwar – the string covering the lingam. This temple is on NH17, about 45 Kms south of Gokarna. Gunavanteshw...

Newasa - Encountering an unique form of Vishnu, and Sant Jnaneshwar

The year was 1290 . A crowd had gathered around a clearing, where broken down pillars marked the presence of an ancient temple, now long gone. A young boy, just 14 years old, leaned against one of those pillars, deep in thought. Then, he began speaking, and the crowd fell silent, listening to his every word. He spoke without any notes, translating the Bhagavat Gita, from Sanskrit, which only the pundits knew, to the language everyone in the village knew and spoke – a variety of Prakrit which developed into the Marathi language. Even as he spoke, one of the men in the audience realized how momentous this event was, and how important this composition would be. He began writing down the words the young boy spoke, and this composition was named by its author and composer, the Bhavartha Deepika – the enlightening meaning (of the Bhagavat Gita). Now, the ancient, holy text, was no longer restricted to the pundits, but accessible to all, understood easily by them, composed as it was, in their...

Review of Executive Lounges at New Delhi Railway Station (NDLS)

During my recent trip to Uttarakhand , I was faced with a problem I had never encountered before. We were passing through Delhi, but we had hardly any time in the city. On earlier visits when I have had to change trains/flights at Delhi, I have always arrived in the morning and left again at night, visiting relatives in between. This time, I was arriving in the city at night, and leaving again early in the morning. There was hardly any time to visit people. I would only have a couple of hours with them before I’d have to leave again. For the first time, we considered booking a hotel, but there again, we were hesitant about the actual hotels, the costs involved, and the logistics of getting from the airport to the railway station and then back again from the station to the airport. That’s when we remembered reading something about a corporate-managed lounge at Delhi station. We soon figured out that we could book online and pay by the hour. Besides, we also learnt that there wasn’...

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