Srirangam Temple part 2 Areal View

As a symbol of love he gifted this vimana to Vibishana (brother of Ravana of the Hindu epic Ramayana) to take back with him to Sri Lanka. There was a condition that he could not set the vimana on earth and if he did it would set itself permanently. Vibishana took this vimana and was traveling towards Sri Lanka, and came upon the banks of the river Cauvery, during when utsavam (festival) for the god had to be performed and he placed the vimana on banks of river Kaveri. When the utsavam got over, the lord refused to move as he loved the place (Srirangam). When vibhishana requested him to come along with him, the lord refused but promised to bless Vibhishana by always facing South (the direction of Sri Lanka, home to Vibhishana). Then Chola kings Dharmavarcholan and Killivalavan developed the shrine into the big temple seen now. They built the basic foundations and main buildings.

Srirangam was one of the Hindu shrine complexes that was sacked during Ala-ud-din Khilji's deccan invasion, led by his general Malik Kafur. Services at the shrine had temporarily halted following this sack, and were resumed later.