The Legend Of Srirangam Temple

The coral rays of the rising sun spread its warmth and cheer. The grass was moist with dew. The birds stirred from their perch and the City of Woraiyur was slowly coming to life. The Chola King Killivalan followed by his retinue had risen very early. He had been awakened by a divine dream and had started on a quest to locate his family treasure. The royals rode through the city in the direction of the River Cauvery. By the time they neared the river, the sun rays had turned into a beautiful amber colour. The river looked like molten gold and it made the people wonder if this was the reason why the river was also called as “Ponni River”.The entourage neared the banks of the River Cauvery where royal boats were waiting, ready to ferry the hunting party to the beautiful island in the middle of the river. The island appeared like an emerald set in the middle of the river. Even from yonder one could see the coconut, mango and fig trees growing wildly on the island. The uninhabited island away from the hustle and bustle of the City of Woraiyur had become the refuge to wild animals like deer, foxes and wild boar. As the boats sailed across the wide river, the king looked at the island with anticipation. The royal party found a landing place on the island. After mounting their horses, they proceeded carefully into the jungle. The air was filled with fluttering noise as birds disturbed by the men on the horses soared towards the sky. The monkeys chattered loudly warning other animals in the area of the arrival of the royal party. The monkeys scampered from branch to branch and climbed towards the highest branches.

The party dismounted from their horses as it was becoming difficult to make their way through the thick jungle on horseback.  

‘Search every inch of this forest,’ ordered the king. ‘It has to be somewhere around here.’

The minister who had also accompanied the king wondered if they were on a wild goose chase. The minister’s face must have reflected his thoughts, for the king asked, ‘Do you believe that dreams come true?’

‘I have heard some people say so.’

‘But, you do not believe that they can come true?’

‘I did not say so,’ said the minister guardedly. ‘I haven’t had any personal experience in this matter.’

‘The Chola Dynasty is an ancient dynasty. It is one of the longest-ruling dynasties in the world. The imperial throne has been adorned by great kings like Dharma Varma and the great Sibi. Have you heard of King Dharma Varma?’

‘Only from the few references in the annals of imperial history.’

‘King Dharma Varma ruled the Chola Country during Treta Yugam. He was a contemporary of Emperor Dasaratha of the Ishwaku dynasty. The Cholas were on friendly terms with the Ishwaku Dynasty. When the great emperor performed the famous Putrakameshti Yagnam, King Dharma Varma was also invited.

It was there that my ancestor King Dharma Varma fell in love with the family treasure of the Ishwaku Dynasty. The priceless wealth of the Solar Dynasty has no equal in this or the other world. We are on this treasure hunt to discover that lost wealth.’

The king was silent for a while submerged in his thoughts. The soldiers forced their way through the undergrowth in search of the rare gem. Birds and small mammals rushed out of the bushy undergrowth when the soldiers pried the bushes with their sticks to inspect the ground underneath the bushes.

‘A very very long time ago, the four-faced deity Lord Brahmma was in deep meditation on the banks of Ksheerabdhi, the famed milky-ocean. The moment his tapas matured, to his delight he noticed that the pristine milky ocean suddenly became golden in colour. He soon found the reason for the change in colour of that white ocean when a beautiful, divine, golden Vimanam appeared on its surface. The brilliant vimanam shone with the effulgence of crores of Suns! Inside the divine vimanam which appeared in the form of the sacred pranavam, Lord Brahmma found the blue sapphire! He found Lord Vishnu reclined on Adisesha. Lord Brahmma took the vimanam to his abode in Satya Lokam where he offered worship to Lord Sriman Narayanan with devotion.

In those days earthly kings travelled to various lokams by the power of their tapas. King Ishwaku during one of his extra-terrestrial journeys travelled to Satya Lokam where he had the divine darshan of Lord Sriman Narayana inside the pranavakara vimanam. King Ishwaku fell in love with Perumal inside the vimanam and after performing tapas for hundreds of years to please Lord Brahmma, he obtained the divine vimanam with Perumal from Lord Brahmma and had the vimanam consecrated at Ayodhya. 

Do you know why Ishwaku Dynasty is known as the Solar Dynasty?’

‘I have heard that the lineage can be traced to Manu who was the son of Lord Surya.’

‘There is a slokam in the Valmiki Ramayana.

अव्यक्तप्रभवो ब्रह्मा शाश्वतो नित्य अव्ययः || १-७०-१९
तस्मान्मरीचिः संजज्ञे मरीचेः कश्यपः सुतः |
विवस्वान् कश्यपाज्जज्ञे मनुर्वैवस्वतः स्मृतः || १-७०-२०

Sage Marichi was the son of Lord Brahmma. Sage Kashyapa was the son of Marichi and Lord Surya was the son of Sage Kashyapa. The son of the Sun was Manu who was the first king of the solar dynasty. King Ishwaku was King Manu’s son.

King Manu too had obtained a divine vimanam from his father Lord Surya. He had consecrated the Vaideeka Vimanam which also had Lord Vishnu reclined on Adisesha at Ayodhya. Now, King Ishwaku brought the divine Pranavakara Vimanam to Ayodhya and the moment the vimanam touched the grounds of Ayodhya, it merged with the Vaideeka Vimanam.’

‘I had never heard about this!’ said the minister.

‘A celestial voice declared that when the right time arrives the Vimanam will split once again into the Vaideeka Vimanam and Pranavakara Vimanam. At Ayodhya, Perumal inside the divine vimanas was worshipped as Lord Jagannathan. My ancestor King Dharma Varma fell in love with Lord Jagannathan who was the Supreme Wealth of the Ishwaku dynasty. He sought this wealth as a gift from Emperor Dasaratha, but who in their right mind will agree to part with their family treasure and that too the Supreme Wealth? ‘

‘What happened afterwards?’

‘King Dharma Varma returned to his kingdom where he continued to meditate upon Lord Jagannathan and dreamed of one day obtaining the opportunity to serve the Supreme Perumal. Seasons changed and Emperor Dasaratha obtained Lord Sriman Narayanan as his son. I will not narrate the Ramayana since you are familiar with this ithihasam. After the coronation ceremony of Lord Rama, Perumal wishing to honour Sri Vibheeshna for the services performed by him in the battle against Ravana gave to him that family treasure of the Ishwaku Dynasty as a gift.

King Vibheeshana took leave of Lord Rama and flew towards Lanka with the divine vimanam. He flew over our kingdom on his way to Lanka. We have been blessed to rule the most beautiful land in Bharatavarsha. King Vibheeshana flew over orchards and groves nurtured by the sweet waters of the Cauvery River. The beautiful land of the Chola Country with its fragrant flower gardens and bountiful orchards, with its golden paddy fields and sweet sugarcane fields, attracted Perumal. As it was also the sacred time for performing the annual Brahmmotsavam, Sri Vibheeshanazhwan decided to land at an island amidst the sacred Cauvery River. Can you imagine how surprised my ancestor must have felt to see that Sacred Treasure of the Ishwaku Dynasty in his kingdom?

The moment the Vimanam touched the ground, it split into the Vaideeka Vimanam and Pranavakara Vimanam. While the Pranavakara Vimanam remained at the island where Sri Vibheeshnazhwan had landed, the Vaideeka vimanam went to Thirukuddandai.

After the successful completion of the Brahmmotsavam, to his dismay, Sri Vibheeshnazhwan was unable to lift the divine vimanam. At that time, Perumal declared to Sri Vibheeshnahwan that He would like to remain at the beautiful island circumambulated by the sacred Cauvery River. He promised to face the Southern Direction to bless Lanka the Kingdom of Sri Vibheeshnazhwan. Legend has it that Sri Vibheeshanzhwan who is a Chiranjeevi continues to visit the divine temple daily to worship Perumal.

My ancestor King Dharma Varma was overjoyed to be the vessel which received the divine blessing of Lord Vishnu. The tapas performed by King Dharma Varma yielded fruit when Perumal decided to stay in the Kingdom of Cholas.  King Dharma Varma built a temple with praharams for Perumal who was affectionately called as Lord Ranganatha. The beautiful island came to be called as Thiruvarangam. I believe that we are standing on the divine grounds of Thiruvarangam. Like the moon which waxes and wanes, the Chola Dynasty too went through cycles of waxing and waning. Many ages went by after the period of King Dharma Varma. Eventually one day the beautiful island was flooded and the divine Vimanam was buried under the floodwaters. And thus, for many centuries, the glorious vimanam has been lost forever.

Last night, I dreamt of Lord Vishnu. He commanded me to come to this island in search of His vimanam. I asked you earlier if you believed in dreams coming true and you had mentioned that you had not experienced such a situation. Mark my words that this hunt for the Vimanam is going to turn into an experience you will never forget and will prove to you that dreams do come true! ‘

The search party meandered through the thick coconut groves and mango trees. They scoured every inch of the jungle floor for signs of the lost vimanam. The sun now had attained the apex of its orbit. The hot rays of the sun and hiking through the dense undergrowth soon tired the search party.

‘Are you sure this is the island?’ asked the minister.

‘It is only natural that you doubt my dream.’

‘I do not doubt your dream, but as there are many islands in the  Cauvery River, I wonder if we are on the right island. It feels like we have scoured every inch of the island and there doesn’t appear to be any signs of the lost vimanam!’

The hard forest floor once again became sandy. They could hear the gurgling sound from the river. ‘Let us rest under this tree for a while,’ announced the king. He scanned the sandy floor. Many bushes and trees had taken root in that area. The sweet voice of parrots filled the air. He noticed a beautiful green parrot on the branch directly above him. It looked at the king in a searching way. It opened its beak, but instead of chirping, it started singing the following verse to the king’s utter amazement.

KAvEri viraja SEyam vaikuNTham rangamandiram 

Sa VAsudEvO rangEsah pratyaksham paramam padam 

VimAnam praNavakaram vEda srungam mahatbhUtam 

SrirangasAyI bhagvAn praNavartha prakasakah 

காவேரி விரஜா சேயம் வைகுந்தம் ரங்க மந்திரம்
ஸ வாஸுதேவோ ரங்கேசய ப்ரத்யக்ஷம் பரமம் பதம்

விமாநம் பிரணவாகாரம் வேத ஸ்ருங்கம் மகாத்புதம்
ஸ்ரீ ரங்க சாயி பகவான் ப்ரண வார்த்த ப்ரகாசக:

The parrot’s song broke the silence. It echoed through the jungle and felt strange that a parrot living in an uninhabited island should sing such a divine song.

‘Listen,’ said the king to his retinue as the parrot repeated the slokam. ‘Minister,’ said the king. ‘The time has arrived for you to experience that dreams do come true. Did you hear the parrot’s song? It says that Cauveri is the Viraja River flowing in Sri Vaikuntam, this island is Sri Rangam which is Bhooloka Vaikuntam! The Lord Ranganatha of Sri Rangam is none other than Lord Para Vasudevan! He is inside the sacred Pranavakara Mantapam to depict the meaning of the sacred Pranava Manthram!

Quick,’ urged the king. ‘Dig in this sandy area.’

The soldiers quickly set to work with their tools and within a short period, they uncovered the beautiful Pranavakara Vimanam. The king felt overjoyed at the discovery. ‘Is it luck that this parrot showed us the location of the divine vimanam?’ asked the king.

‘Dreams do come true!’ exclaimed the minister,’ and, when the time is right, even parrots turn out to be spiritual guides!’

From that day, the king came to be called as Kili Cholan (Parrot Chola). He built a large temple at the place where the vimanam was unearthed. He established a pushkarini and many mantapas and re-built the Divya Desam of Sri Rangam.