Srirangam

Srirangam: Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple

Srirangam, former city, east-central Tamil Nadu state, southeastern India. It lies on an island at the division of the Kaveri (Cauvery) and Kollidam (Coleroon) rivers and is now incorporated administratively into the nearby city of Tiruchchirappalli.

Srirangam is one of the most frequently visited pilgrimage centres in southern India. Its main feature, the Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple, dedicated to the Hindu deity Ranganatha, is primarily Vaishnavite but is also holy to Shaivites. The temple is composed of seven rectangular enclosures, one within the other, the outermost having a perimeter more than 2 miles (3 km) in length. A remarkable feature of the temple is the Hall of a Thousand Pillars with its colonnade of rearing horses. The temple and the 1,000-pillared hall were constructed in the Vijayanagar period (1336–1565) on the site of an older temple.