[17] Its location, on an island between the Kollidam and Kaveri rivers,[4] has rendered it vulnerable to flooding as well as the rampaging of invading armies which repeatedly commandeered the site for military encampment.

[18] The temple was looted and destroyed by the Delhi Sultanate armies in a broad plunder raid on various cities of the Pandyan kingdom in the early 14th century.

[4][6] The temple town is a significant archaeological and epigraphical site, providing a historic window into the early and mid medieval South Indian society and culture.

Numerous inscriptions suggest that this Hindu temple served not only as a spiritual center, but also a major economic and charitable institution that operated education and hospital facilities, ran a free kitchen, and financed regional infrastructure projects from the gifts and donations it received.

[4] It is vast and planned as a temple town with Sapta-Prakaram design where the sanctum, gopuram, services and living area are co-located in seven concentric enclosures.

Example:- Silapadikaram (book 11, lines 35–40):[37] āyiram viritteḻu talaiyuṭai aruntiṟaṟ pāyaṟ paḷḷip palartoḻu tētta viritiraik kāviri viyaṉperu turuttit tiruvamar mārpaṉ kiṭanta vaṇṇamum On a magnificent cot having a thousand heads spread out, worshipped and praised by many, in an islet surrounded by Kaveri with billowing waves, is the lying posture of the one who has Lakshmi sitting in his chest The temple was first built by the Chola ruler, Dharmavarma.

[42] The sanctum's Vishnu image with its jewelry was pre-emptively removed by the Hindus before the Delhi Sultanate troops reached Srirangam by a group led by the Vaishnavite Acharaya Pillai Lokacharyar to Tirunelveli in Tamil Nadu.

[43] Before then, for decades the deity and the priestly wardens wandered and secretly carried the temple's icon through villages of Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka.

During contemporary processions when the icon is taken out of sanctum and then returned to it after its journey, Thulukha Nachiyar is dressed in Muslim garments and food offerings are made to her in the form of butter and chappathis (wheat bread).

[49] The Vishnu and Lakshmi images were reinstalled and the site became a Hindu temple again in 1371 CE under Kumara Kampana, a Vijayanagara commander and the son of Bukka I.

In the 15th century, they coated the apsidal roofs with solid gold sheets, followed by financing the addition of a series of new shrines, mandapas and gopuras to the temple, according to George Michell.

[52] Srirangam temple site and the neighboring city of Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) became an intense center of Christian and Muslim missionary activity during the 18th and 19th centuries.

[51] With the establishment of the Madras Presidency within the British Empire, geo-political stability returned and the Ranganathaswamy Temple site attracted interest in archeological and historical studies.

[51] The epigraphical evidence suggests that these Hindu dynasties — Cholas, Pandyas, Hoysalas, Gajapatis, Nayaks, Vijayanagara – assisted with rebuilding, renovation and supported the traditional customs.

The temple has witnessed and played a key role in the early Sri Vaishnavism history, particularly the centuries that followed the major Hindu philosopher Ramanuja (1017–1137 CE), and his predecessors Nathamuni and Yamunacharya.

For example, Sri Ranganathaswamy temple shrines include those of Chakkaratalvar, Narasimha, Rama, Hayagriva, Vasudeva, Varadharaja, Srinivasa and Gopala Krishna.

[60] The Venugopala shrine, one of the most elaborately carved, is in the south-west corner of the fourth enclosure of the temple was rebuilt by Chokkanatha Nayak, according to an inscription dated 1674.

[65] On the western wall inside the core sanctum is Ganesha (son of Shiva and Parvati), on the northwestern corner is Yoga-Ananta (Vishnu seated in yoga asana on Sesha), on the northeastern side is Yoga-Narasimha (Narasimha seated in yoga asana), and on the eastern wall is Durga (an aspect of Parvati), considered to be Vishnu's sister.

The exterior of the vimana and attached mandapam (hall) have intricately carved pilasters with fluted shafts, double capitals, and pendant lotus brackets.

[66] The pillars consists of sculptures of wildly rearing horses bearing riders on their backs and trampling with their hoofs upon the heads of rampant tigers, seem only natural and congruous among such weird surroundings.

[72] The great hall is traversed by one wide aisle in the centre for the whole of its greater length, and intersected by transepts of like dimension running across at right angles.

The Vellai gopuram (white tower) on the east side of the fourth enclosure has a steep pyramidal superstructure that reaches a height of almost 44 metres (144 ft).

The Rajagopuram (the main gopuram) did not reach its current height of 73 metres (240 ft) until 1987, when the 44th Jiyar (acharya, chief counsellor) of Ahobila Matha began collecting donations to complete it.

One interesting epigraph is a Kannada record that states that an entourage led by the Kannada-sandhivigrahi (foreign affairs minister) of Chalukya Tribhuvanamalla (Vikramaditya VI) made some donations to the temple.

These provided food reserves and security to the temple town and supplies to its kitchen serving the needy travelers, pilgrims and local population.

[4][24] Several 11th and 12th century inscriptions describe a gift of land to support recitation of Hindu texts in the temple and for feeding Sri Vaishnavas.

Periyalvar begins the decad on Srirangam with two puranic stories according to which Krishna restored to life the son of his guru Sandeepani and the children of a brahmin.

Arunachala Kavirayar an 18th-century poet composed the entire Ramayana as an Opera called as Rama Natakam in Tamil language and few Manipravalam songs.

He is seen by Śrīvaiṣṇavas as the third and one of the most important teacher (ācārya) of their tradition (after Nathamuni and Yamunacharya), and by Hindus in general as the leading expounder of Viśiṣṭādvaita, one of the classical interpretations of the dominant Vedanta school of Hindu philosophy.

[97] He is found seated in the Padmasana (yogic sitting posture), depicting the Gnyana-Mudrai (symbol of knowledge) with his right palm, which is also known as "Thaanaana Thirumeni"(Selfsame body).