I am here again today with another alphabet. Yes, you guessed it right, today its “R” for the #A to Z Challenge. And so I am coming up with the story of Ranganatha Swamy from Indian Mythology. I know you all must be surprised to see that I didn’t pick up the common names like Rama, Ravana, etc. He is the one and only Reclining God from Indian Mythology. So thought of talking about him today, instead of other famous characters.
As my granny wanted to see Sri Rangam, we took her there and after visiting the temple there, I found out that the main god in that temple is in sleeping position. Reclining on a big snake. I just couldn’t control my curiosity and asked my granddad as to why this god is sleeping and won’t he get bored the whole day to sleep like that? When he will get up and go out to work or to play?
Why Ranganatha Swamy is the Reclining god:
My granddad told me that Ranganatha Swamy is none other than Lord Vishnu (my friend) and he is overseeing his creation in the sleep. Did you guys understand anything? Nope right? The same thing with me too, so I asked my granddad to explain in more details.
He told me that the entire world is nothing but God’s creation. Brahma would be creating us, and Shiva would be destroying us. But whereas Vishnu would protect us. So that’s why we can see in some temples of Ranganatha Swamy, both Shiva and Brahma would also be present along with the main deity (Ranganatha Swamy).
So this Ranganatha Swamy is always observing us and protecting us. While doing that continuously all the days one gets tired right. That’s why he is lying down in his most comfortable position. His aunties, Lakshmi and Bhudevi are pressing his legs and making him feel relaxed. Of course, I didn’t understand the main intention in sleeping continuously, but my mom told me to accept this fact and get going, as this position has deep philosophical meaning and is beyond my understanding. I think that these elders don’t know how to explain it to kids like me and that’s why they tell all these things. What say, folks?
My doubts:
Just between us, I have a lot of doubts you know? When my granddad was lying down on the bed continuously post-operation, the doctor told him to get up and walk as otherwise bedsores would come it seems. So I am worried what if, this Ranganatha Swamy would get those bed sores, then who would cure him. I can’t sleep for a long time, but how can this Swamy sleep throughout the day? What about his food and bath? But as an obedient boy, I had to hear my mom and keep my questions with me itself. Maybe I would ask little Krishna when I meet him in the dream world next. Please don’t tell all these doubts to my mom, otherwise, she would again call me a question bank.
Reclining God – Ranganatha Swamy’s temples in India:
There are a lot of temples in India for this Reclining god (I like to always refer him as the reclining god, as I had never seen somebody reclining for so long). The most famous temples are listed below:
- Sri Rangapatnam in Karnataka also called as Adi Ranga temple
- Sri Rangam in Trichy, Tamilnadu also called as Antya Ranga temple.
There are a lot of other temples for Ranganatha Swamy, but people primarily visit the above two temples only.
My personal take away:
I had visited only Srirangam till date and want to visit other temples also and find out more about this interesting god after I grow up little more. Also, I want to find out the answers to all my doubts regarding this god.
Also, there is an interesting song in a movie on Ranganatha Swamy. I love to dance for that song, as there are a lot of floor moments involved in that dance. But I am not clear on the lyrics. My mom tells me that after I grow up and learn more about this god, I would understand those lyrics also better. The link for that song in Hindi is here.
So this is my story folks for the Letter R. Hope you enjoyed it. Meet you on coming Monday, with a new letter. Till then have fun and here is the link for my earlier articles in this series. It’s so nice to participate in #BlogchatterA2Z and #AtoZChallenge
Suhasini, this is your best post so far in A to Z. I am not very religious but I love the Sri Rangam temple. It is beautiful temple. And I have watched the movie Dashavataram in Tamil And believe me I liked two scenes from the movie that are out of the world. There is a fight scene in which Kamalahassan fights and guards the Sri Rangam temple from the King’s soldiers. That was a beautiful scene and the second one is this song. I really loved this post.
Thank you Jay for your kind words. That song is my kids favourite and he will never stop talking about the sculptures in Sri Rangam too.
I would say this is your most adorable post in the series. Loved the questions you put through. As always , I start reading your posts with a smile on my face, and by the time I reach teh end, I am enlightened. Thank you.
Thanks a lot Mayuri for your nice comments.
Nice post on Sri Ranga Swamy. This must be Ananta Shayi Vishnu. Lord in his passive state in his Ananta shayanam. Creatures grow and live peacefully in this phase. When lord wakes up, creation gets disturbed. Everything has come out of lord. everything merges into him.
Yup Abhijit. Very well said. Thank you for reading
Lord Vishnu in a state of Ananta Shayanam, I hope that is what Rangnatha Swamy represents, supports creation. An active lord will disturb creation. Everything has come out of the lord, will merge into him.
Very true Abhijit. That’s the reason for his sleep also. Thanks for reading
The doubts are absolutely correct. Be a little boy or elders Luke is, some things remain in our mind for a long time. Gradually we understand the difference between God and human being.
True Geethica. Only kids don’t have the fear of asking all the questions what they come to their minds.
Such a nice post suhasini… i love the theme u r working on…. all the stories about gods & mythology -it’s a fascinating world of them…
Thank you Singhal yes, mythology is a world in itself
How interesting! I’d never heard of this deity. In Thailand, there are many famous reclining Buddha temples- i wonder if there’s any connection?
That’s an interesting point Noor. There might be some connection some where
Ranganath Swamy has also taken many Avatars to protect people. As always loved reading your post.
Thank you dear
I was unaware about all these details. Thanks for introducing this time me.
Thank you Ujjwal
Thanks for dropping by. Yes even i love that song
Thank you Aditi
Such a cute post and equally cute questions. Love the details of this character
Thank you dear