Ranganatha and his Muslim consort

Published on 4th September, 2016, in Mumbai Mirror. A six-hour drive from Chennai and a bridge over the river Kaveri takes you to Shrirangam, one of three river islands, that houses the images of Ranganathaswamy, who is Narayana, the reclining Vishnu. The other two islands are Shrirangapatna and Shivanasamudra in Karnataka. Deep within seven concentric enclosures (prakaras), high walls with magnificent gateways (gopurams), is the shrine with its golden vimana. Within, we see Vishnu as the reclining Narayana, locally known as Ranganatha, on the coils of the five-hooded serpent known as Adi-Sesha. When the deity gave me darshan, I saw the unadorned black stone icon, ..