11 of the 12 Azhwars (6th – 9th Century CE) have sung the praise of the Lord here at Srirangam. Chola King Dharmavarman initially built this as a small temple. Later several dynasties including Pandyas, Cheras, Hoysalas, and Vijayanagar contributed to making it into its unimaginable proportions today. The temple is mentioned in the Sangam Era literature including the Silappadikaram. But stone inscriptions are available only from the 10th Century CE. Chola King Dharmavarman is initially believed to have built this as a small temple. The temple was in active worship and is mentioned in the Sangam Era (3rd Century BC to 3rd Century CE) literature (Ahananuru, 2nd or 3rd Century CE) and later in the Silappadikaram (6th Century CE). Later several dynasties including Pandyas, Cheras, Hoysalas, and Vijayanagar contributed to the development of the Srirangam temple. 11 of the 12 Azhwars (6th – 9th Century CE) have sung the praise of the Lord here at Srirangam. But it was during the Chola Period that Srirangam temple reached its unimaginable proportions and architectural expansion seen today. Stone inscriptions from Chola, Hoysala, Pandya, and Vijayanagar periods are available from the 10th Century CE onwards. After the weakening of the Chola expire the Pandya Kings became more powerful and Jatavarman Sundara Pandya I (1251-1268 CE) contributed greatly to the Srirangam Temple. This included covering many parts of the temple with gold, conducted Tulabharas (measure) to donate his weight’s equal of treasures and even one special event called Elephant Tulabhara. Two boats of equal weight were floated in the Cauvery. The king on his elephant mount climbed aboard one and the other one was filled with treasures till the boats were even and were donated to the temple. Chera Kings also contributed plenty of wealth. 11 of the 12 Azhwars (6th – 9th Century CE) have sung the praise of the Lord here at Srirangam.
Srirangam has survived the onslaught of 2 Muslim invasions. One was by Alauddin Khilji, Sultan of Delhi who sent his commander Malik Kafur between 1310 and 1311 CE. During this time the temple was looted, locals killed and the processional deity was taken away. The return of the processional deity is a legendary incident in which a group of temple authorities received information from a lady who followed the invaders all the way to Delhi. The deity had become the favorite of the princess in the Sultanate. The temple group performed various music recitations and when offered gifts by the Sultan, decline and asked for the Deity instead. This was granted and the deity was taken away while the princess was asleep. Though the sultan sent an army to chase and recover the deity on the insistence of the princess, they met with failure. They reached Srirangam with the princess and discovered the deity was not there too. The princess died in Srirangam. A shrine for her is seen today in the first Prakaram for Bibi Nachiyar, as she came to be called.
The second Muslim invasion was in the 14th Century CE during the reign of Ghias Ud Din Tuglaq his son Ulugh Khan (later to be crowned as Mohamad Bin Tuglaq) came with a vast army. This invasion finds mention in many Tamil Literatures. At this time due to the timely and wise actions of the temple priests and some locals, the processional deity was taken away for safety and kept in different temples including Jyotish Kudi, Thirumaliruncholai, Kozhikode, Tirukkanambi, Melkote, and Tirumala for about 48 years. The Muslims occupants and their local allies in the Madurai area were defeated by Kumara Kampana (son of a chieftain in Karnataka) in 1369-70 CE who also set about bringing all the temples that suffered under the Muslim invasions to their past glory. This news was heard joyously by a chieftain called Gopana who was a Vijayanagar Feudatory ruling over Senji (Gingee) and he set off to Thirumala to bring back the processional deity – Azhagiya Manavala. He kept it in Senji and then marched to Srirangam, defeated the Muslim ruler, and reinstated the deities of the Lord and his Consort at Srirangam to the joy of all.
