Ranganathaswamy temple at Srirangam, 6km north of Trichy, is among the most revered shrines to Vishnu in south India, and also one of the largest and liveliest, engulfing within its outer walls homes, shops and markets. Enclosed by seven rectangular walled courtyards and covering more than sixty hectares, it stands on an island defined by a tributary of the River Kaveri. This location symbolizes the transcendence of Vishnu, housed in the sanctuary reclining on the coils of the snake Adisesha, who in legend formed an island for the god, resting on the primordial Ocean of Chaos.

The temple is approached from the south. A gateway topped with an immense and heavily carved gopura, plastered and painted in bright pinks, blues and yellows, and completed as recently as 1987, leads to the outermost courtyard, the latest of seven built between the fifth and seventeenth centuries. Most of the present structure dates from the late fourteenth century, when the temple was renovated and enlarged after a disastrous sacking by the Delhi armies in 1313. The outer three courtyards, or prakaras, form the hub of the temple community, housing ascetics, priests, and musicians, and the streets are lined with food stalls and shops selling souvenirs, ritual offerings and plump fresh flower garlands to be presented to Vishnu in the inner sanctuary.

The pillars of the outstanding Sheshagiriraya Mandapa, south of the kalyan mandapa, are decorated with rearing steeds and hunters armed with spears. These are splendid examples of Vijayanagar style, which depicts chivalry defending their temple against Muslim invaders, and represents the triumph of good over evil.  The central tower, crowning the holy sanctuary, is coated in gold and carved with images of Vishnu's avatars, or incarnations, on each of its four sides.

Inside the gate to the third courtyard - the final section of the temple is another pillared hall, the Garuda Mandapa, carved throughout in typical Nayak style. Chola structures and more recent shrines added by Vijayanagar and Nayak donors fill the second courtyard, while the dimly lit innermost courtyard, the most sacred part of the temple, shelters the image of Vishnu in his aspect of Ranganatha, reclining on the serpent Adisesha.  Most of the temple's daily festivals take place in the courtyard, beginning each morning with vina-playing and hymn-singing as Vishnu is awakened in the presence of a cow and an elephant, and ending just after 9pm with similar ceremonies.