Nine Ponds (navatīrthas) of Śrīraṅgam

Abstract

Water bodies, being elements of the natural landscape, are often connected with religious holy sites and provide ready examples of a mutual relationship between nature and culture. The present article introduces nine holy ponds—tīrthas of the Śrīraṅgam Raṅganātha temple—each with its characteristic features directly connected with a particular tree, residing deity, resident ṛṣi, and certain boons. Short descriptions of the ponds are given in Chapter 10 of the Sanskrit text, the Śrīraṅgamāhātmya, which praises the glory of the holy place, kṣetra, and constitutes my main source material. Even though the nine ponds play an important role in the religious landscape of the site and the life of the religious community, they have not been studied till now. The article presents descriptions of the tīrthas found in the Śrīraṅgamāhātmya and supplements them with a brief report and some photographic evidence from the field research of 2020.