Long before time measured days and nights—at the very dawn of creation—Lord Vishnu revealed one of His most divine forms. Pleased by the intense penance of Brahma, the first being of the universe, the Supreme Lord manifested Himself as Lord Ranganatha, reclining in eternal serenity.

This was no ordinary appearance. The Lord descended as a Svayamvyakta Deity, appearing by His own will, accompanied by His resplendent Sri Ranga Vimana. The celestial bird Garuda bore the divine vimana through the heavens. Adi Sesha, the Lord’s eternal serpent-bed, spread his thousand hoods in protection. Vishvaksena cleared the path ahead, while the Sun and Moon gently fanned the Lord. Narada and Tumburu sang His glories, gods led by Rudra raised thunderous cries of “Jaya Ghosha”, celestial maidens danced in joy, and flowers rained from the skies.

The Lord told Brahma that He would appear on earth in eight sacred places—Srirangam, Srimushnam, Venkatadri, Saligram, Naimisaranya, Totadri, Pushkara, and Badri—with Sri Rangam being the first and foremost of them all. He instructed Brahma to worship Him strictly according to the sacred Agamas.

Brahma carried the deity to Satyaloka, installing Him on the banks of the celestial river Viraja. Daily worship was first performed by the Sun God, and later by Vaivasvata Manu. When Manu’s son Ikshvaku, the king of Ayodhya, desired the Lord’s presence in his kingdom, he performed severe penance for hundreds of years. Pleased, Brahma granted permission, and thus Lord Ranganatha came to Ayodhya.

It was in this divine lineage that the Lord later incarnated as Sri Rama during the Treta Yuga. After defeating the demon king Ravana and restoring dharma, Lord Rama crowned Ravana’s noble brother Vibhishana as the king of Lanka. As a mark of immense grace, Rama gifted him the worshipped deity of Sri Ranganatha, whom He Himself had worshipped. From then on, the Lord came to be known as Periya Perumal.

On his journey to Lanka, Vibhishana halted on the banks of the holy Kaveri River, near Chandrapushkarini. There, he placed the Ranga Vimana on a spot called Sesha Peetam and went to bathe in the river. When he returned and attempted to lift the vimana, it would not move. Overcome with sorrow, Vibhishana wept.

At that moment, Lord Ranganatha appeared and gently consoled him. The Lord revealed that He had chosen this very place as His eternal abode. Vibhishana was assured that he could worship the Lord daily—and it is believed that even today, Vibhishana offers worship at midnight, and some say he visits Srirangam every twelve years.

Around this time, King Dharma Varma, who had once seen Lord Ranganatha in Ayodhya, had been praying to serve the Lord in his own land. The Lord fulfilled his wish by remaining at Sri Rangam. The king and his Chola successors built a magnificent temple around the divine vimana and worshipped the Lord with great devotion.

As centuries passed, the temple was slowly buried under sand and forgotten. One day, a Chola king resting beneath a tree heard a parrot repeatedly chanting a sacred verse:

“Kaveree Viraja Seyam… Pranavarthaprakasakah”

The verse revealed that the Kaveri is none other than the celestial Viraja, and that Srirangam itself is Vaikunta on earth. Guided by this divine message, the king excavated the site and restored the grand temple.

Over time, great Chola and Pandya rulers expanded the complex. Eminent Vaishnava acharyas like Yamunacharya, Ramanujacharya, and Sudarshana Bhattar shaped the spiritual glory of Srirangam. The Alvars, through their soul-stirring Tamil hymns known as the Nalayira Divya Prabandham, filled the temple with devotion. All twelve Alvars sang in praise of Lord Ranganatha, dedicating 247 sacred hymns to Him.

Though the temple faced invasions, plunder, and turmoil—from the Mughals to colonial powers—it never lost its divine essence. The Vijayanagar and Nayak kings revived its glory, and even when foreign forces used the temple as a fortress, the Lord remained unshaken.

After India’s independence in 1947, the temple returned fully to the care of the Sri Vaishnava community, continuing its timeless service to Lord Ranganatha, who still reclines in divine grace on the banks of the sacred Kaveri—eternal, compassionate, and ever-protective.