Simhachalam Sri Varaha Lakshmi Narasimha Temple, Andhra Pradesh

Address

Simhachalam Sri Varaha Lakshmi Narasimha Temple, Simhachalam Rd, Simhachalam, Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh 530028 Phone: 0891-2979666, 0891-2764949

Diety

Varaha Narasimha (Vishnu) Amman: Simhavalli Thayar (Lakshmi)

Introduction

Sri Varaha Lakshmi Narasimha temple, Simhachalam is situated on the Simhachalam Hill, at a height of 800 metres above the sea level in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh. It is dedicated to Bhagwan Vishnu, who is worshipped here as Varaha Narasimha. The form of Varahanarasimha (Dwayavathara) was assumed by Him, on the prayer of his devotee, Prahalada, who wanted to see both the incarnations of Bhagwan Vishnu, the one (Varaha) by which he had already killed Hiranyakasha and the other (Narasimha) by which he would kill Prahalada’s father Hiranyakashipu A temple with the moolavirat being a dual incarnation (Ugalavatara), a combination of the third (Varaha) and the fourth (Narasimha) avataras of Sri Maha Vishnu named as Sri Varaha Lakshmi NarasimhaSwamy is found only at Simhachalam. Except on AkshayaTrutiya, the murti of Varaha Narasimha in this temple is covered with sandalwood paste throughout the year, which makes it resemble a linga.

Puranic Significance

The exact age of the Simhachalam Temple is not known, but it contains scriptures belonging to 1098-1099 AD belonging to the kingdom of Chola king Kullotunga-I. Another ancient text illustrates a queen of the eastern Ganga of Kalinga covering the image, and yet another inscription suggests that the eastern Ganga king of Orissa Narasimha Dev built the main sanctum sometime around the 1267 AD. As many as 252 texts in Oriya and Telugu have described the predecessors of the Simhachalam Temple, hence the construction of this mighty facade cannot be clearly attributed to a single entity. It is believed that Sri Krishnadeva Raya had visited the temple twice around 1516 AD and 1519 AD after he defeated Gajapati ruler of Orissa Gajapati Prataparudra Dev on two different accounts. The Simhachalam temple still contains inscriptions left here by Sri Krishna Devaraya of Vijayanagara empire. Simhachalam Temple has an interesting tale behind its origin. Interestingly, the story revolves around two brothers, Hiranakashyap and Hiranyaksha, whose main aim was to disturb the peace of the world. Hiranyaksha took his control over the earth and seized it from Lord Vishnu. To save earth from his custody, Lord Vishnu arrived in the form of Varaha and killed Hiranyaksha. This whole incident made his elder brother, Hiranakashyap angry and to take revenge for his younger brother’s death, he swore to kill Vishnu and rule over the world. In order to win a battle against him, Hiranakashyap went to the Himalayas and started offering his prayers to Lord Brahma day and night. Seeing his austerities, Lord Brahma thought of granting him a boon. He asked Lord Brahma to make him as good as immortal. He asked Brahma to fulfil his desire of not getting killed by anyone at any time, no matter what. After achieving the undisputed power, the demon King, Hiranakashyap wanted everyone to chant his name. Considering himself invincible, he began killing people who were not treating him as God. Scared of his dominating and egoistic nature, everyone in his kingdom started worshipping him. However, one day, he got to know that his own son, Prahalad is a true devotee of Lord Vishnu. He tried everything to make his son believe that his father is the main deity and he shouldn’t offer his bhakti to Lord Vishnu but he failed miserably. After innumerable attempts, he decided to kill Prahalad and ordered soldiers to push him from the top of the Simhadri hill. When the soldiers were throwing him off the hill, the Lord Narsimha appeared at that point and saved the life of Prahalad. And to express his boundless affection towards Lord Vishnu, Prahalad built a temple on the same hill, which is now referred to as Simhachalam Temple.

Beliefs

Simhachalam is the second-largest temple, after Tirumala in Andhra Pradesh, Devotees believe that the deity is capable of giving progeny to women and fulfilling the wishes of devotees. Here Natural spring water comes from the hills and roots herbs. Devotees believe by taking a bath in this water will cure their sins, diseases and fulfill their desires.

Special Features

The temple faces west instead of east which is unusual to the normal temple traditions. There are two temple tanks: Swami Pushkarini near the temple and Gangadhara at the bottom of the hill. The religious practices and customs of the temple are formulated by the Vaishnavite philosopher Ramanuja based on the SatvataSamhita, one of the 108 texts of the Pancharatra Agama. The temple has a five-tier rajagopuram (main tower) on the western gateway. Shiva’s manifestation Tripurantaka is the kshetrapala (guardian deity) of Simhachalam. The guardian deity is identified with Bhairava, a fierce manifestation of Bhairava. Tripurantaka and his consort have a temple dedicated to them which is located on the way to Gangadhara. It is one of the oldest South Indian temples dedicated to this deity. Bhairava was believed to be more fierce than Narasimha and hence, the devotees used to visit this temple first in the past to pacify him. The temple is situated on Simhachalam Hill Range 800 metres (2,600 ft) above the sea level at a distance of ten miles to the north of Visakhapatnam. The hill range is a part of the Eastern Ghats and is named Kailasa. The sanctum sanctorum of the temple is cubical-shaped whose walls feature sculptures carved in Hoysala style. The three-tier vimana, similar to that of the Konark temple, is shaped like a stepped pyramid with proper carving of sculptures. The corners of the base of the vimana bear lion statuettes symbolising Narasimha. On the eastern face of the vimana, images of Indra and Gajalakshmi are found. A gold plated dome with a Vaishnavite symbol caps the vimana. On the southern wall of the sanctorum, a sculpture of Narasimha killing Hiranyakashipu in Prahlada’s presence is present. Narasimha is seen in a standing posture, a unique feature of the temple’s architecture. The fore arms lay on Hiranyakashipu whose is kept on the left thigh, and the rear arms hold a weapon and a conch. On the northern wall, a sculpture of Varaha is seen, which is similar to the ones found in the Belur Chennakeshava and Hoysaleswara temples.

Festivals

Kalyanotsava and Chandanotsava are the two major festivals celebrated in the temple, followed by Narasimha Jayanti, Navaratrotsava and Kamadahana. The festivals celebrated in Simhachalam have an influence of the Dravida Sampradaya.