South India and her Muhammadan Invaders c13.s1.3

c13.s1.3

This last incident seems merely the copy of what actually did take place in respect of their Ranganātha idol when Śrīrangam was sacked by Malik Kafur. The riddle is solved by what the accounts state as having taken place when the images were ultimately brought to Śrīrangam. When specifically stating that there were two images, the story relates that when the old image which the youngest of the three attendants preserved at the foot of the Tirupati hill, was brought at the instance of Gopana into Śrīrangam, they were all puzzled as to which was the genuine original image of the God. Not finding one old enough to bear testimony on direct knowledge, they ultimately lighted upon a blind washerman who was much past ninety years and who actually said that he had been for over half a century washing the clothes of the god and would by the smell of the water with which the god was bathed tell accurately which was the old image. The test was applied and he pointed to what was the original idol of the God. It is not an impossible inference to make from this story that the original image and the one that was substituted for it after that was carried away were both of them brought back by Gopana and the difficulty was to decide which of the two was the original image and therefore to be installed in the temple. So the discrepancy between the two stories as to the migration of the idol of Ranganātha is only apparent so far as the story goes, and is easily reconcilable; but how far the stories themselves are reliable is matter upon which light would be desirable.