The Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple is a Hindu temple dedicated to Ranganathar, a reclining form of Hindu deity, Vishnu located in Srirangam, Tiruchirapalli, Tamil Nadu, India . All Vishnu temples has a gate to the God’s inner sanctum called “Vaikunta Dwaram” which is opened to devotees who visit the temples during two particular days, Vaikunta Ekadasi and Vaikunta Dwadasi. It is believed that people (Either a Sage or a Sinner) who gets the darshan on these auspicious days through the Vaikunta Dwaram signifies entering Vaikuntam (Heaven) and attaining Moksha.

Srirangam is the foremost of the eight self-manifested shrines (Swayam Vyakta Kshetras) of God Vishnu. Another Legend in regards to the Srirangam temple is that one day on the base of Himalaya, River Ganga, Cauvery, Yamuna and Saraswathi were playing, and a Ghandharvan (person who belong to Deva logam) passing by saw the four rivers playing and worshiped them. Seeing this the 4 rivers started arguing on which river did the Ghandharvan worship. The quarrel intensified but did not stop. River Yamuna and Saraswathi stopped quarreling and left. But both Ganga and Cauvery continued the quarrel. Finally, they both went to God Vishnu to decide. River Ganga told to God Vishnu, since she originated from his feet, she was mightier than cauvery. God Vishnu accepted this argument and decided that the Ghandharva prayed to River Ganga. But, cauvery did not accept this and she did tapas to God Vishnu to become stronger. Finally, God Vishnu gave darshan and blessed river Cauvery and granted a wish that God Vishnu will give darshan in a reclining pose on the bank of Cauvery.

Below are some of the interesting facts about Ranganathaswamy Temple,

1. Second largest Gopuram in Asia, standing at the height of 236 feet.
2. Hiruvaranga Tirupati, Periyakoil, Bhoologa Vaikundam and Bhogamandabam are some of the other names of the temple
3. The temples is considered to be the largest working and largest Hindu temple in India
4. There temple is said to have 21 Gopurams, 39 pavilions and 50 shrines.
5. The hall in the temple contains 953 pillars which are made of Granite. This grand hall was built during the Vijayanagara period (1336-1565).

To know more about Srirangam’s Ranganathaswamy Temple visit Ishta Devata.