Significance of Idol Worship _ Ranganadh as First Deity

Hi friends, we learnt that God pervades everywhere and He doesn't have form and sometimes He comes to this world by taking avataras. If we take Praetayug, by taking the avatar of Ram, He came to this world. As Krishna, He came to this world in Dwapar Yuga. But can we see God in that way? As we are talking that God pervades everywhere, we can't see Him. God is there within ourselves, we can't see Him. And we can't go to those yugas like Praetayug and Dwapar Yuga to see Ram and Krishna. So, sometimes God comes to this world by taking idol form, Achyamurthy. And He sometimes has chosen certain places, sacred places and intentionally He came and settled in those places. From North India to South India, if we calculate all these sacred places where God intentionally came and settled are 116 number. If we leave this material body and we may reach 107th, that is Vaikuntha and sometimes we may reach even Param Pada also after leaving this world. But all these 108 sacred places, temples are there at one place, that is Muchchandra, which is very closer to Shamsabad airport in Hyderabad. So those people who can't go to all these places, especially old people, can visit these temples because these are as powerful as those which are there spreading from North to South India. So, let us pay a visit to these places so that you can get inspired by these temples and their structures. Then you can go to the places where God already settled, the original places where God settled. So, these are the places which were glorified by our Alwars and our Pooja Charcher Swamiji graced us by bringing all those, the mud of all those, the sacred mud of all those places and installed all these idols at one place, that is in Muchchandra. So if you pay visit to those places, you will be inspired and you will get the briefing of each place so that whenever you get a chance to go to those places, you can go and visit. We too experience, we too have many personal experiences regarding this aspect to say here the place is as powerful as those places where God settled in those accha forms. Many of us get a doubt when God is there everywhere and he pervades everywhere, why do we worship these idols? First thing what we have to learn is suppose if God, He is there everywhere, we know that, but why do we have fan? Because all the forces, you may call centripetal forces or centrifugal forces, they come at one place so that we can feel the breeze, we may not be able to feel a presence of faith but we feel the presence of faith if we switch on fan. So, that is the situation we must understand. God is there everywhere but we may not be able to experience God unless we are doing a strong meditation and all. So, God takes the form of idol and comes to us in the form of idol and people think it is just an idol made of metallic elements but we have to see each form of God, in each place where He settled. He wanted to teach us a lesson, what lesson He wants to teach us? So, if we go to the briefing of each place and its historic background, then we can have better understanding of all those places. Now, let's know the historic significance of Ranganatha temple in Srirangam. The first idol form of the Lord is Sriranganath. At the time of creation, Almighty was found in reclining position on Odisha in milky ocean. From His navel, He first created a huge lotus with a huge top and then created four-headed Brahma. Lord instructed Brahma to create the world following four Vedas. Brahma heard the sweet voice of the Lord but couldn't see Him. He looked around. Who am I? Where am I now? Who are you talking to me with a melodic voice? Asked Brahma, looked all around. The voice said, I am Almighty. You can't see me. I am magnanimous, said the voice. Please appear to me in minute form so that I will be inspired by your presence and may be able to create the entire world, said Brahma. The Almighty appeared to him as the form of an idol in reclining position on Odisha. Brahma was fascinated by the Lord's presence as deity and created the world. This idol was given to the kings of Ikshwaka dynasty. As Ram belonged to Ikshwaka dynasty, gradually the idol reached Ram in Ayodhya. Ram gave to Vibhishan on being requested. Vibhishan wanted to place it in Lanka and worship it. Ram instructed Vibhishan not to put it anywhere until he would reach Sri Lanka. Vibhishan was passing through an island named Srirangam which was amidst Kaveri river. This place is very closer to Chennai. To perform his Sanjavandan, Vibhishan had to put it on the island named Srirangam. After performing Sanjavandan, Vibhishan came back and tried his best to lift it up. But the idol wasn't moved. He felt so depressed. I wanted to pray you in my kingdom Lanka. Why am I not able to lift you up now, said Vibhishan. Then the idol said, I have chosen this place called Srirangam. I want to be worshipped as Sri Ranganatha. Don't worry, I will grace the invalorous Lanka by passing my looks from here. Thus, almighty had chosen Srirangam as the sacred place of worship. It was his first idol form. Here, lord is worshipped till now as Sri Ranganatha in that idol form. This place is called Bholok Vaikunth. Our Bhagwat Ramanujacharya took his last breath at this place called Srirangam. His material body is still preserved in Srirangam. If devotees pay visit at Srirangam, they can be graced by Bhagwat Ramanujacharya with his material body in Srirangam. When Ramanujacharya was alive, Lord Sri Ranganatha was so impressed by his services and granted him Nichyavibhuti and Leelavibhuti at this sacred place called Srirangam. The mantra which we can chant at this sacred place is Aum Srirangakshetra Nivasaya Sriranganayaki Sametaya Sriranganathaya Namaha Jai Sriman Narayana Aum Asmat Gurubhyo Namaha