His Holiness Srivaraha Mahadesikan Srimad Srimushanam Chinna Andavan joined the Vice President of India, Sri Venkaiah Naidu and the Governor of Tamil Nadu, Sri Banwarilal Purohit at the launching of the Book, ‘Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple, Srirangam: preserving antiquity for posterity’ in Chennai on 13 July 2019.
Addressing the gathering, the Vice President said that it was the sacred and patriotic duty of every citizen to preserve, protect and present our antiquities to the next generations. “We have an onerous responsibility as inheritors of a grand tradition. We cannot rest on our past laurels,” he added.
Shri Naidu expressed concern over the lack of care relating to archaeological sites and said that those innumerable treasures should not be allowed to be buried under the weight of relative neglect and inertia. He said that as a society everyone has a responsibility in preserving and protecting out cultural and spiritual heritage. He said that such noble causes must take the shape of peoples’ movements like Swachh Bharat and Beti Bachao Beti Padhao programs.
Praising the historical contribution of Swami Vedanta Desikan in the thirteenth century to the Ranganatha Swami temple, the Governor, Sri Purohit said, ‘Swami Desikan established the rituals and ceremonies for worship in the temple, which are still in vogue today. In particular, he established the chanting of the Tamil compositions called the Divya-Prabandhams and installed Deities of the twelve Alwar saints for worship in the temple.’
The book released by the Vice President explains the conservation project undertaken at Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple in Srirangam and details both the historical and mythological significance of the ancient shrine as well as the conservation efforts undertaken to restore the temple to its original glory.
The Governor of Tamil Nadu, Shri Banwarilal Purohit, The Minister for Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments, Government of Tamil Nadu, Shri Sevvoor S. Ramachandran, Shri D. Jayakumar, the Minister for Fisheries and Personnel and Administrative Reforms, Srimad Srivaraha Mahadesikan Swamy, Andavan Ashram Srirangam, Srimad Srivensadagopa Sriranganatha Yathindra Mahadesigan Swamy, Jeeyar of Ahobila Mutt, Shri Madhurakavi Vanamamalai, Jeeyar of Naguneri Mutt, Shri Venu Srinivasan, Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple, and Shri S Gurumurthy, Editor, Thuglak were also present at the event.
The Srirangam Srimad Andavan Ashramam has continued this tradition of preserving ancient monuments by undertaking many temple renovation projects under the guidance of the current and past pontiffs. Notably, the Ashramam has renovated the structures of ?? and >> and &IKKL….