01Ganesh on the summit
When Vibhishana carried the murti of Ranganatha home to Lanka, he was told not to set it on the ground. At the Kaveri he gave it to a cowherd boy while he bathed, and the boy put it down; it stayed where Srirangam now stands. Vibhishana chased the boy up this rock and struck him on the head, and the boy showed himself as Shri Ganesh. So Ucchi Pillaiyar, the Ganesh of the summit, sits at the top of over 400 steps. Halfway up is the shrine of Shiva as Thayumanavar, who came as a mother to help a devotee’s daughter in childbirth when floods kept her own mother away. Appar and Sambandar sang this temple in the Tevaram.
02Pallava caves and Carnatic wars
The upper cave was cut for Mahendravarman I early in the 7th century; its Sanskrit inscription calls it the shrine of Lalitankura, one of his titles, and its relief of Shiva as Gangadhara receiving the Ganga in his locks is among the finest Pallava carvings. A lower cave from about the same age has panels of Vishnu, Brahma, Surya and Ganesh. The Madurai Nayakas walled the town around the rock and at times kept their court here. In 1736 Chanda Sahib took it from Rani Meenakshi; in 1741 the Marathas under Raghuji Bhonsle took it from him and held it for a time. In 1751–52 the British and French fought the long siege of Trichinopoly around the rock.
The life of this place
- early 7th centuryMahendravarman I has the Lalitankura cave with the Gangadhara panel cut.
- 1736Chanda Sahib takes Tiruchirappalli from Rani Meenakshi, ending Nayaka rule.
- 1741Raghuji Bhonsle’s Marathas take the fort and capture Chanda Sahib.
- 1751–52Siege of Trichinopoly in the Second Carnatic War.
The entrance is from the busy bazaar of Chinna Kadai Street. Footwear is left at the foot; the steps are covered for most of the way, and the summit is cooler at dusk.
