Ranganayaki
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Please discuss this issue on the talk page or replace this tag with a more specific message. This article has been tagged since December 2006. |
Ranganayaki, is presiding Goddess of the Ranganatha Swamy temple at Srirangam. Also known as Thayar ("mother" in Tamil), she is the wife of Lord Ranganatha. There are three well-known temples for Lord Ranganatha, of which Srirangam is the most important in both religious and historical perspective.
In the Srirangam Ranganatha Swamy temple, along with Goddess Ranganayaki, one can also find, just behind her, Bhooma Devi and Sri Devi, in sitting posture.
Goddess Ranganayaki, the daughter of Kaveri river, is said to have undergone a severe penance in Srirangam (the place where the shrine of the Goddess now stands) to marry Ranganatha. The Lord, who springs out from paal-kadal (the ocean of milk) as a result of the steadfast penance of Lord Brahma, is said to have reached Srirangam (brought there by Vibhishana on his way to Sri Lanka) and decided to marry Goddess Ranganayaki and remain there.
The people of Srirangam, following the tradition, offer greater prayers to the Thayar. Ranganayaki never comes out of her temple, rather, the Utsava murthi(presiding deity), of the temple comes to her place. Every year in the month of March-April (Maasi month in Tamil, on the day of Uthira star), Namperumal arrives at the temple of Thayar and they both together, give Darshan to the devotees only on that particular day, famously known as "Sethi Sevai".
There are many Shlokas composed on Goddess Mahalakshmi but the "Gunaratna Kavasam" a Sanskrit Shloka composed by Parasara Bhattar was exclusive for Sri Ranganayaki. However the traditional Lakshmi Astothram is recited in the temple during rituals. Apart from this, Sree Sthuthi composed by Vedanta Desika and Kanadhara Sthothram given by Adi Shankaracharya are chanted by devotees of the temple.
It is known that all Acharyas of Hindu tradition have visited and continue to visit the Srirangam Ranganatha Swamy temple, thereby praying to the Goddess also.
