Administration and Social Life under Vijayanagar c14.s2.45

c14.s2.45

Śrī Raṅga also was a staunch Vaiṣṇava. In the Ariviḷimaṅgalam plates he is called “the worshipper of Viṣṇu.”⁹⁶ One of the important services rendered by Śrī Raṅga for the cause of Śrī-Vaiṣṇavism was the restoration of worship in the Ahōbalam temple. The place had been occupied by Ibrāhim Quṭb Shāh and Malakappa, the chief of Haṇḍe Anantāpuram. Śrī Raṅga defeated them and restored the temple to the Jiyyaṅgāru who was in charge of it.⁹⁷ The Vaiṣṇava shrines at Melkōṭe, Śrīperumbudūr, Śrīmuṣṇam and Triplicane were the objects of numerous grants during this time. Śrī-Vaiṣṇava scholars like Eṭṭūr Kumāra Tirumala Tātācārya received great patronage at the royal court. Śrī Raṅga carried out additions and improvements to the Viṣṇu temple at Kāñcī for which he had as his agent one Tiruppaṇi Śiṅgāraieṅgār.⁹⁸ Śrī