Mentioned already in the ancient Tamil epic the Cilappatikāram, Śrīraṅgam is a sacred site of preeminent status in South Indian religious geography. This book, the fruit of long collaboration between the two authors, presents a critical edition of the Śrīraṅgamāhātmya, a Sanskrit eulogy of this hallowed place, along with an English translation, the first translation into a European language. Its most important temple is dedicated to the self-manifest (svayaṃvyakta) form of Viṣṇu as Raṅganātha, lying upon his serpent bed on an island formed by the Kāverī and Koḷḷiḍam rivers. But the text relates that this was not always its location. It describes the vimāna, narrates how it came to be established on the island, and gives an account of the various sacred water-bodies in the vicinity, principal among which is the Candrapuṣkariṇī.