SRIRANGAM

city, east-central Tamil Nadu state, southeastern India. It lies on an island at the division of the Cauvery and Coleroon rivers near the city of Tiruchchirappali. Srirangam is one of the most frequently visited pilgrimage centres in southern India. Its main Ranganatha temple, though primarily Vaishnavite, is also holy to Saivites. 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 1,000-pillared hall were constructed in the Vijayanagar period (13361565) on the site of an older temple. Pop. (1991 prelim.) 69,928.