Abstract

 The proposed paper refers to one element of the bigger project concerning the networks of holy spots in the South of India. It inquiries into the story and history of the journey of the processional Raṅganātha image from Śrīraṅgam to Tirupati which took place during Vijayanagara rule. The escape from the Śrīraṅgam island was the result of the Muslim invasion and it was the beginning of a journey, initially led by Pillai Lokācārya, through several places on the way to the Tirumala hills. There Raṅganātha spent about 30 years, before being re-established by the Kumāra Kampaṇa of the Vijayanagara dynasty in the regained Śrīraṅgam temple.