Simhachalam – Rare Temple of the Combined Varaha Narasimha Incarnation
The Shri Varaha Lakshmi Narasimha temple is a Hindu temple situated on the
Simhachalam hill, which is 500 metres above the sea level in Visakhapatnam,
Andhra Pradesh. It is dedicated to one of the Hindu trinity deities Vishnu,
who is worshipped there as Varaha Narasimha.
As per the temple’s legend, Vishnu manifested in this peculiar form, with a
boar head, human torso and a lion’s tail, after saving his devotee Prahlada
from a murder attempt by the latter’s father Hiranyakashipu. Except on
Akshaya Tritiya, the idol of Varaha Narasimha is covered with sandalwood
paste throughout the year, which makes it resemble a Shiva Lingam.
The temple is situated on a hill 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 architecture of this
temple is a mixture of the styles of the Odishan Kalinga architecture,
Chalukyas and the Cholas. The temple faces west instead of east, signifying
victory.
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 followed according to Pancharatra Agama.
The Sthala Purana (local legend) of Simhachalam consists of 32 chapters.
Once, the Four Kumaras visited Lord Vishnu’s abode Vaikuntha as children.
Jaya-Vijaya, the demigod gatekeepers of Vaikuntha, failed to recognise them
and denied their entry. In resentment, they cursed the duo stating that
they would have to give up divinity, born and live the lives of mortal
beings on earth. Vishnu failed to revoke the curse of the Kumaras and felt
sorry. He later offered two solutions: either being Vishnu’s devotees in
seven human lives or his enemies in three demonic lives. Jaya-Vijaya could
not bear separation with Vishnu for a long time and chose the second
possibility.
In their first demonic lives, Jaya-Vijaya were born as Hiranyakashipu and
Hiranyaksha to sage Kashyapa and Diti in an inauspicious time during
sunset. To tease lord Brahma and other gods, Hiranyaksha ensured that earth
loses its vitality and sinks into the rasatala, the lowest level in the
cosmic universe. Vishnu assumed the form of a boar referred to as Varaha
and restored the earth to its normal position. Varaha later killed
Hiranyaksha in a war that lasted for a thousand years.
Hiranyakashipu vowed to seek revenge and prayed to Brahma. He gained a boon
which made him invulnerable to death either by day or night, either in the
morning or the night, and either by a human or a beast.
When the gods headed by Brahma visited Vaikuntam to tell an account of the
happenings to Vishnu, a guardian named Sumukha obstructed them. They manage
to meet Vishnu and also convey the misbehaviour of Sumukha. Vishnu assured
that Hiranyakashipu shall be killed and Sumukha would be the serving cause.
Sumukha pleaded for a pardon but Vishnu denied, saying that an offence
against his devotees is inexcusable. As per Vishnu’s orders, Sumukha was
born as Hiranyakashipu’s son Prahlada.
Prahlada displayed staunch devotion towards Vishnu in his childhood. As a
result, he had to face many death trails.
After many unsuccessful attempts to kill Sri Prahlada, Hiranyakashipu
orders, as a last resort, to hurl Sri Prahlada into the sea and place a
huge mountain over him. The servants chose to do this at Simhachalam. But
before they could finish, Narayana rescued Prahlada by jumping over the
hill and lifting him from the sea.
Simhachalam, therefore, is the place where the Lord rescued Prahlada. It is
also said that since the Lord jumped at once to rescue Prahlada, the Lord’s
lotus feet went into Patala. The local Sthala Purana says that the Darshana
of Lord’s lotus feet is available only to inhabitants of Patala Loka.
At Prahlada’s request, the Lord then assumed the form of the
Varaha-Narasimha Deity, so that Prahlada could see both aspects of the Lord
the one by which He had already killed Hiranyaksha and the one by which He
would soon kill Hiranyakashipu.
After the death of Hiranyakashipu, Prahlada built a temple around the
Deity. It is said that after Prahlada handed over the kingdom to his son,
he worshipped the deity personally. However, at the end of Satya Yuga,
owing to neglect perhaps, a huge anthill gathered around the Deity. But at
the beginning of another yuga, the Deity was rediscovered by Pururava, the
king of the lunar dynasty, who is mentioned in the Ninth Canto of the
Srimad-Bhagavatam.
Riding with his wife, Urvashi, in an aerial chariot over the hills of the
South, Pururava was drawn by a mysterious power to Simhachalam. Some say
that Narasimhadeva had appeared in Pururavas dream and then he went to
Simhachalam and he discovered the deity in a Garden of Malati trees.
Nonetheless, he discovered the Deity and cleared the earth around Him.
Pururava then heard a voice from the sky which told him to cover the Deity
with sandal paste, worship the Lord in this form, and expose Him only once
a year, on the day of Chandana-yatra. Following this instruction, Pururava
covered the Deity with sandal pulp equal to the earth he had removed,
worshipped the Deity, and rebuilt the temple, which has flourished ever
since.
The present temple was built in the 9th or the 10th century and was
extensively rebuilt in the 13th century. There are 525 inscriptions in this
temple, and the earlier one dates back to 1087 A.D. An inscription dated as
far back as 1098 AD of the Chola King Kulothunga provides some clue as to
its antiquity. Another inscription shows a Queen of the Eastern Ganga of
Kalinga (ancient Orissa) (1137-56 AD) covering the image with gold while a
third inscription says the eastern Ganga King of Orissa, Narasimha Deva,
built the main/central shrine in 1267 A.D.
In the 11th century AD, after winning a debate at the Puri Jagannath
temple, Vaishnavite saint and philosopher Ramanuja visited this temple.
Those days, Simhachalam’s deity was believed to be Shiva due to some
reasons. The notable ones were the unusual position of the deity’s idol,
the gate at the lower terrain named Bhairava Dwaram, and the second temple
tank being referred to with the name Gangadhara.
The annual celebration of Kamadahana, a tradition usually observed in
Shiva’s temples, was practised here which added strength to the beliefs.
Ramanuja argued that the idol of Varaha Narasimha is in a posture in
accordance with the Pancharatra Agama rules. He added that Kamadahana is
celebrated here for the temple’s purification as per the Sishtachara
traditions. Ramanuja pointed out that Shiva’s manifestation Bhairava is
neither the guardian of the Bhairava Dwaram nor worshipped as one. Ramanuja
was able to defeat the scholars at Simhachalam and converted it into a
Vaishnavite temple.
Varaha Narasimha’s idol, when covered with sandalwood paste, resembles a
Shiva Lingam. Ramanuja took personal possession of the temple and ordered
the priests to remove the paste. The conversion work began and before
completion, the idol started bleeding. Feeling the deity’s anger for
violating the rule, sandalwood paste was applied again which stopped the
bloodstream. They presumed that the deity wished to look like a Lingam and
continued the tradition except for one day.
Sri Krishna Deva Raya after defeating the Gajapati ruler of Orissa Gajapati
Pratapa rudra Dev visited the shrine twice in 1516 AD and 1519 AD and
offered numerous villages for maintenance of worship along with valuable
jewellery of which an emerald necklace is still in the temple.
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.
Simhachalam temple resembles a fortress from outside with three outer
courtyards and five gateways. Near the entrance, the footprints of Hindu
saint Chaitanya Mahaprabhu installed by Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati in the
year 1930 can be seen.
In the Mukha mandapa (main hall), there is a pillar named Kappam Stambham
which is believed to have curative powers. It is consecrated using the
Santana Venugopala Swamy Yantra and is known to grant unfulfilled wishes.
The moolavar of Varaha Narasimha is kept in a separate hall named Prahlada
mandapam. In its original form, the idol of Varaha Narasimha is two and a
half feet tall. The deity stands in a tribhanga posture with a boar’s head,
a human torso and a lion’s tail. On either side of the deity, the idols of
Sridevi and Bhudevi holding lotus flowers are seen. The sculpture of Varaha
Narasimha has no ornaments and drapery carved on the body. The moolavar is
covered with sandalwood paste imported from Srivilliputhur, Tamil Nadu.
After application of the sandalwood paste, the moolavar resembles a four
feet tall Shiva Lingam. There is enough space for the devotees to offer
pradakshinas (circumambulations) to the deity inside the Prahlada mandapam.
There are only four main ornaments used in the temple: a Thirunamam made of
diamonds and rubies, a chain of emeralds, a 100-tola gold bracelet, and a
golden crown.
Simhachalam temple found many literary references and lyrical works
dedicated by anonymous writers; some of the latter are preserved in the
Government Oriental Manuscripts Library, Chennai. The earliest known
literary mention of the temple is found in Lakshmi Narasimhapurana written
by Telugu poet Yerrapragada. Krishnamacharyulu wrote devotional vachanas
(prose) in praise of Varaha Narasimha of Simhachalam. Krishnadevaraya
mentioned his visit to Simhachalam in his epic poem Amuktamalyada. The
king’s visit was also documented by poets Allasani Peddana and Dhurjati in
Manucharitra and Krishnaraya Vijaya respectively.
Chandanotsavam (sandalwood festival), also known as Chandan Yatra, is the
most important festival celebrated in the temple. It is celebrated on the
festival day of Akshaya Tritiya (April – May) in accordance to the temple’s
legend. On this day, the Sandalwood paste, commonly referred to as
Chandanam, covering the moolavar throughout the year is removed. As a
result, devotees can see the original form of the deity’s idol for 12 hours
once in the whole year.
Kamadahana is another significant festival which occurs on the full moon
day in the month of Phalguna. It is considered as an auxiliary festival
which is not specified by ancient texts of the temple. Followers of Sri
Vaishnavism consider Kamadahana as a self-purification
ceremony.{Indiadevine} K Rajaram IRS 18124
--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups
"Thatha_Patty" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email
to [email protected].
To view this discussion on the web visit
https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/thatha_patty/CAL5XZorztCxLy6FDeLVuwd8_ObuuQFftnOT-rDEaBb9iqEt2EA%40mail.gmail.com.
