Ranganātha   also known as Sri Ranganatha, Ranganatha, Ranga andThenarangathan is a Hindu deity, more well known in South India, and the chief deity of the Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple, Srirangam. The deity is a resting form of Lord Vishnu, recumbent on the great form of the serpent god Adisesha, one of the foremost of Hindu Gods. His consort is Goddess Lakshmi, also known as Ranganayaki Thayar (mother in Tamil). His two other consorts seen next to his recumbent figure are Bhudevi and Nila Devi. Most of the deities portray a 'smiling' lord in a reclining position over the celestial serpent Adisesha in the sea of cosmic dissolution (pralaya). This is the form in which he is open to listening to all of his devotee's woes, and blesses them. Apart from being worshipped by all Hindus, this form is of particular importance to the Sri Vaishnava community.His name in Tamil means "leader of the place of assembly", coined from two Tamil words 'Arangam' and 'Nathan'. This temple is of particular interest for scholars in the south because of the vast history attached to it in shaping the religion in the south. However, the lack of proper mention about this temple or Lord Vishnu as "resting on a bed of snake in an ocean of milk" in the "Puranas", the Vishnu Sahasranama or other Sanskrit texts pertaining to North India makes it a center of lesser importance in the north.