WOW! Srirangam was huge with 7 gopurams or gates in all four directions leading into the inner temple. It is so beautifully painted, which happened just 5 years ago and most of the locals aren't that happy about it, liking instead the white washed stone it had been for hundreds of years. But I thought it really made the carved scenes and statues really pop out and it makes for some amazing video footage for sure. I had the good fortune of being let into the inner sanctum to see the Deity of Vishnu, even though westerners are not allowed, but they will make an exception if you are wearing a saree and have tilak on and tell them you are a "Hare Krishna Hare Rama" devotee and so I paid the 250 rupees ($5) to go through the fast lane while everyone else paying 50 rupees was standing in line for hours! This deity of Vishnu has been in this spot for millions of years and it was only in the 10th century that they began building the huge gopurams of this vast temple complex around Him. The story goes that the brother of the demon King Ravana of Sri Lanka was a devotee of Vishnu and while visiting India, really wanted to have a form of the Lord to worship at his home in Sri Lanka. So the Lord being the well wisher of everyone and knowing the desire of our hearts - self manifested in His form of Sri Ranganatha who is lying on His side on Ananta Sesa - His most immediate expansion as the million hooded King Cobra who holds the planets like mustard seeds on the top of His hoods. So, the only condition was that the devotee was to take him straight away to Sri Lanka and not put Him down, because if he did, he would not be able to lift Him up again. So as he was traveling back to Sri Lanka he saw a river and wanted to cool off and have a bath and the place where he put Sri Ranganatha down is now known as Srirangam in Tiruchirappalli aka Trichy in Tamil Nadu, India and from this spot He will never leave. Check out the short video I made below.....more to come soon....=D
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