"Kaveri viraja seyam vaikuntam Rangamandiram

Sa Vasudevo Rangesah pratyaksham paramam padam
Vimanam pranavakaram veda srungam mahatbhutham
Srirangasayi bhagvan pranavartha prakasakah "


My first blog on "Thiruvarangam" @ Srirangam

Stands the Majestic Rajagopuram, the Royal temple tower of Srirangam. This beautiful view of the gopuram never forgets to dumbstruck the people who visit for the first time.

The view of this gopuram never ceases to amaze me.
And comes the Sapthaprakaram (Seven walls) which reminds of the below sloka from Sri Ranganatha Stotram.


"Saptha prakara madhye sarasijamuklothbhasamane vimane,
Kaveri Madhya dese phanipathi sayane, sesha paryanga bhage,
Nidhramudhrabhiramam katinikatasira parswavinyastha hastham,
Padmadhathree karabhyam parichithacharanam  rangarajam Bhajeham."

And the meaning goes like this,

"I salute that Lord of Ranga,
Who sleeps in the yogic pose,
On the bed of Adhisesha,
Below the tall dome,
Which resembles a lotus bud ,
And is surrounded by seven ramparts,
And which is in between two Kaveri rivers,
With his right hand near his crown,
And his lotus like merciful left hand,
Pointing towards his feet which take care of us all."

(Courtesy : http://stotraratna.awardspace.com/stotra/vishnu/v33.pdf)

Well to talk about utsavams in Srirangam, our Perumal is busy with Utsavams almost all the 365 days in a year.
During chithirai utsavam Perumal is carried around chithirai veedhi in various Vahanams every morning and evening for 10 days.

The most important utsavam is Vaikunta Ekadasi. I say one should definitely stay here in Srirangam during this time. A celebration for 21 full days which is divided into Pagal pathu and Raa pathu utsavams.
The thiruppavai paasurams will be played every mornings and evenings during that time (which can be heard even if you are some 2 kms away). The Araiyar sevai is another important happening where the Araiyar swamigal recite the Naalayara Divya Prabhanda before our Lord. And of course our beloved "Azhagiya Manavalan" graces us in different alankarams everyday and it is such a treat to anyone's eyes to watch.

             (The Lord "Rangarajan" on the day of Vaikunta Ekadasi with Rathna angi)

Panguni utsavam is another important utsavam which will be falling in the month of Panguni where for the only time in the year Perumal was seen together with Ranganayaki Thayar.

Saint Thyagara had beautifully described about Srirangam in his krithi "Raaju vedale juuthamu raare".

So this is where I grew up and there is a sense of belonging when I'm here in Srirangam.

On a lighter note, there are many fun places to hang out here too.
For instance Murali coffee shop (I bet, this coffee is way better than those in CCDs), Sedji Pani Puri shop (where I used to hang out with my friends during college days a lot), Micheal's ice cream shop (can get ice creams at very very affordable rates), Cauvery bridge (this is our beach to chill out :P) and so on.

Though I was not fortunate enough to born in this heavenly place I was brought up here and I'm proud to say that I'm a Srirangavasi :)


Thanks for reading.. Do post your comments :)