Periyapperumāḷ ('the Great Lord') is the beloved name of Śrī Raṅganātha, the presiding deity of Śrī Raṅgam (Śrīraṅgam), who reposes in the eternal śayana (reclining) posture on the coils of Ādiśeṣa, the primordial serpent who is himself the embodiment of devoted service. Śrī Raṅgam, the island-temple on the Kāveri river in Tamil Nadu, is considered the first and foremost of the 108 Divyadēśams — the sacred shrines sanctified by the Āzhvārs' hymns — and Periyapperumāḷ is its presiding lord, celebrated across the Nālāyira Divya Prabandham more than any other Āzhvār shrine deity.
The qualifying epithet Periya ('great') distinguishes Him from the other Perumal forms and asserts His supremacy among arcāvatāra manifestations. Pūrvācāryas explain that His reclining posture is not a sign of rest or indifference but of absolute, sovereign ease — He who holds all worlds does not need to exert Himself; He simply reclines, and yet sustains, protects, and liberates all beings who approach. Nammāzhvār, Tirumangai Āzhvār, and virtually every one of the twelve Āzhvārs have sung of Periyapperumāḷ, making His praise the most densely woven thread in the entire fabric of Divya Prabandham.
In the Śrī Vaiṣṇava guru-paramparā, Bhagavān—revered at Śrīraṅgam as Periyapperumāḷ—is honoured as the first Āchārya, followed by Periya Pirāṭṭiyār and Viśvaksena before the human lineage. This should not be narrated as Periyapperumāḷ transmitting Tirumantra to Nammāzhvār through Nāthamuni’s later recovery of the Divya Prabandham: Nammāzhvār precedes Nāthamuni, and the recovery narrative concerns Nāthamuni receiving the Prabandham through Nammāzhvār’s grace.
He is called Kōyil Perumāḷ because, in Śrī Vaiṣṇava conventional speech, Kōyil without qualification denotes Śrīraṅgam. That usage expresses the temple’s unique pre-eminence without requiring the claim that every other temple is simply “subordinate.” Śrīraṅgam has seven concentric prākāras, not three; together with its gopurams and maṇḍapas they form the sacred city-temple of Periyapperumāḷ.
[From alternate entry: periya-perumal]
The Supreme Mūlavar
Periya Perumāḷ (Tamil: 'The Great Lord') is the honorific for the mūlavar at Śrī Raṅgam — the reclining Raṅganātha (Raṅganāyaka, lying on Ādiśeṣa with Śrī Lakṣmī seated at His feet). Śrī Raṅgam is the foremost Divya Deśam, and Periya Perumāḷ is thus the foremost among all mūlavars.
Sampradāya Meaning
In the Śrī Vaiṣṇava sampradāya, Periya Perumāḷ = Kṛṣṇa. The reclining Raṅganātha at Śrī Raṅgam is understood as Kṛṣṇa in His absolute rest — the same Kṛṣṇa who revealed the Gītā, now lying in supreme ease as Raṅganātha, available to all devotees.
Namperumāḷ
Periya Perumāḷ (the mūlavar) is distinguished from Namperumāḷ (the utsavar at Śrī Raṅgam). While devotees see Namperumāḷ during daily services and processions, Periya Perumāḷ remains in His eternal rest in the sanctum sanctorum, available to be seen only at specific times through the proper gates.