DYK the Srirangam Temple was ransacked twice in its history, once by Malik Gafur in 1311 and by Mohammed Bin Tuglaq in 1323? 
The idols were removed overnight and hidden, sent to Tirunelveli first, then later to Kozhikode and even Melkote transported stealthily all over South India for 20 years before finding shelter in Tirupati. There they lay for 40 years .
Once Kampana, (the son of Bukka 1) defeated the Madurai Sultanate and reoccupied Madurai and Tanjavur, the famous Vaishnava Saint Vedanta Desika brought the idols back to Srirangam.
The temple reached its zenith later under the Vijayanagara Emperors and the Hindu Nayakas until it became the epicentre of the Carnatic Wars and finally was ceded to the British
#DYK that Srirangam is the world's largest functioning Hindu temple. (Angkor War is the largest Hindu temple but with no active prayers)
The massive walls of the Srirangam Temple were built during the reign of Vishwanatha Nayaka, the Madurai Nayaka King who also embellished the temple.
Imagine the history this temple has seen. The Chola kings, the Pandya kings, the invasions of Malik Gafur and Tuglaq, the vanishing idols, the conquest by Vijayanagara Empire, the Madurai Nayakas, the Rule of Chanda Sahib, the Seige of Trinchopoly...
the Defeat of Chandra Sahib by the Marathas armies, the Maratha Rule, the treacherous handover to Nizam of Hyderabad, the battles between the French and the English during the Carnatic Wars, the thwarted attacks of Tipu Sultan and finally part of Madras Presidency
