Ranganayaki, is the presiding goddess of the Sri Ranganathaswami Temple at

Srirangam Srirangam, is a neighbourhood in the city of Tiruchirappalli in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. A river island, Srirangam is bounded by the Kaveri River on one side and its distributary Kollidam on the other side. Considered as the first amon ...

. Affectionately called ''Thayar'' ("Holy Mother" in

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nativ ...

), she is the consort of

Ranganatha Ranganatha, also known as Ranganathar, Rangan, Aranganathar, Sri Ranga, and Thenarangathan, is a Hindu deity with his origin in South India, serving as the chief deity of the Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple, Srirangam. The deity is a resting form of ...

, the presiding deity of Srirangam. She is regarded as the manifestation of

Lakshmi Lakshmi (; , sometimes spelled Laxmi, ), also known as Shri (, ), is one of the principal goddesses in Hinduism. She is the goddess of wealth, fortune, power, beauty, fertility and prosperity, and associated with ''Maya'' ("Illusion"). Alo ...

, while Ranganatha is considered as a manifestation of

Vishnu Vishnu ( ; , ), also known as Narayana and Hari, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the supreme being within Vaishnavism, one of the major traditions within contemporary Hinduism. Vishnu is known as "The Preserver" within t ...

. She is also called Ranganayaki Nachiyar and Periya Piratti. Ranganayaki is held in high reverence by the people of Srirangam and by Vaishnavites.

Acharya In Indian religions and society, an ''acharya'' (Sanskrit: आचार्य, IAST: ; Pali: ''ācariya'') is a preceptor and expert instructor in matters such as religion, or any other subject. An acharya is a highly learned person with a tit ...

s that sang the grace of Ranganatha venerate her. She is the feminine aspect of the universe and Vaishnavite traditions regard her co-equal to Ranganatha himself; she is both the means and the end of worship to them. All Vaishanvites revere her as ''Thayar''.

Temple

The shrine has 2 main idols (moola murtis) and 1 processional idol (utsava murti), due to the fact that the processional idol was buried under a tree near her shrine during the invasion of the temple by

Malik Kafur Malik Kafur (died 1316), also known as Taj al-Din Izz al-Dawla, was a prominent slave-general of the Delhi Sultanate ruler Alauddin Khalji. He was captured by Alauddin's general Nusrat Khan during the 1299 invasion of Gujarat, and rose to promi ...

of the

Khalji Dynasty The Khalji or Khilji (Pashto: ; Persian: ) dynasty was a Turco-Afghan dynasty which ruled the Delhi sultanate, covering large parts of the Indian subcontinent for nearly three decades between 1290 and 1320.Panguni when the star Uthiram is in ascension, the divine procession idols (''utsava murtis'') of Ranganatha and Ranganayaki, come together for a day. They are known together as ''Divyadampathigal'' (divine couple). (This day is not fixed, but falls sometime in the Western months of March or April.) This Darshan is called "Serthi Sevai." In Tamil, Serthi is alongside/together and Sevai is service to the deities. Unlike many temples, Srirangam does not have a ''Tirukalyana-utsavam'' (Wedding festival), between Ranganatha and Ranganayaki. They are regarded as ''Divyadampathigal'' (divine couple), existing beyond mortal confines or limitations. In the temple, along with the goddess Ranganayaki, one can also find, just behind her,

Bhudevi Bhumi ( sa, भूमि, Bhūmi), also known as Bhudevi and Vasundhara, is a Hindu goddess who is the personification of the Earth. She is a consort of the god Vishnu. According to Vaishnava tradition, she is the second aspect of Vishnu's consor ...

and

, in sitting posture. There are many

Shlokas Shloka or śloka ( sa, श्लोक , from the root , Macdonell, Arthur A., ''A Sanskrit Grammar for Students'', Appendix II, p. 232 (Oxford University Press, 3rd edition, 1927). in a broader sense, according to Monier-Williams's dictionary, is ...

composed about the goddess

Mahalakshmi Lakshmi (; , sometimes spelled Laxmi, ), also known as Shri (, ), is one of the principal goddesses in Hinduism. She is the goddess of wealth, fortune, power, beauty, fertility and prosperity, and associated with '' Maya'' ("Illusion"). Al ...

but the "Sri Gunaratna Kosam," a

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

Shloka composed by

Parasara Bhattar Parasara Bhattar (also transliterated as Parashara Bhattarya) was a follower of Ramanuja, a 12th-century Vaishnava teacher 062-1174 A.D He was the son of Koorathazhwan. His works include ''Srirangarajastavam''. He wrote a commentary in Sanskrit ...

, is exclusive to Ranganayaki. However the traditional Lakshmi Asthottaram is recited in the temple during rituals. Apart from this, Sree Sthuthi composed by Vedanta Desika and Kanakadhara Sthothram given by Adi Shankaracharya are chanted by devotees of the temple. All Acharyas of Hindu tradition, irrespective of their philosophical positions, have visited and continue to visit the temple to worship Ranganatha and Ranganayaki.

References

Lakshmi {{Hindu-theo-stub