[S.T.D.]

3) Sri Rangam - Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple (Part 2)

Sri Rangam and the evolution of Sri Vaisnavism

After the Alvars came the acaryas, who were responsible for the developing and safeguarding the Sri Vaisnava tradition. The task undertaken by them were :

a) Collectiong and desseminating the Alvars’ hymns
b) Institutionalising the tradition into a theological system
c) Establishing monasteries and propagating the tradition
b) Countering and defending Sri Vaisnava theology against rivals schools e.g Jains, Buddhists , Advaitins etc.
e) Defending the tradition from destructive forces.

Nathamuni - 9th Century

Nathamuni was a siddha (mystic) and great exponent in yoga. He established the Sri Vaisnava guru parampara (disciplic succession) tradition with Sri Rangam as its spiritual capital.

He codified the Alvars devotional hymns into the Nalayira Divya Prabandam (regarded as Tamil veda). He institutionalised the tradition of reciting the Divya Prabandam in the temples and initiated the Arayar Sevai tradition for the Lord .

Ramanuja - 11th Century

Ramanuja spent most of his life time in Sri Rangam. He further developed Sri Vaisnava theology by writing the Sri Bhasya, commentary of the vedanta sutra refuting Sankara's advaita vedanta.

His other notable task was in the regulation of temple rituals for which Lord Ranganatha honoured him as "udaiyavar" (Who is Ours). He appointed 74 pontiffs (simhathipathis) to propagate the vaisnava faith without any caste or gender based discrimination.

Vedanta Desikan - 13th - 14th Century

Vedanta Desikan period in Sri Rangam was a crucial moment in the history of Sri Vaisnavism. It was during his time that Sri Rangam was attacked by Malik Kafur from the Delhi Sultanate. (1311-1312).

Vedanta Desikan played a key role in saving the deities and the Sri Vaisnava religious texts from destruction.

He saved the "mula" deities in the sanctum sanctorum by covering them with a brick wall. He organised a group under Plllia Lokacarya to bring the "utsava" (ceremonial) deities to a safe location.

Although Sudarsana Suri died during the attack, Vedanta Desikan manage to save Sudarsana Suri's magnum opus - sruta prakasika and his 2 young sons.

Depressed by the destruction caused to Sri Rangam, he composed abhithi sthava praying to Lord Ranganatha to restore the glory of Sri Rangam.

Manavala Mamuni - 15th Century

Like Pillai Lokacarya, Manavala Mamuni too wrote many treatises in Tamil, on the doctrines of Sri Vaisnavism. It was during his time that Sri Rangam once again re-established its primacy as the spiritual capital of Sri Vaisnavism.

To hear Manavala Mamuni's discourse on Namalvar's Tiruvaymoli Lord Ranganatha had all festivals stopped for a year. And at the end of discourse Lord Ranganatha appeared as a young boy and placed the following verse at Manavala Mamuni's feet.

sri sailesa daya paatram dhi-bhaktyaadi gunarnavam
yatindra-pravanam vande ramya-jamatram munim