Simhachalam Temple

 

Is a Hindu temple located in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, South India, and is dedicated to the incarnation (avatar) of Vishnu known as Narasimha (the man-lion). Origin of the name SIMHA: Lion, Chala: hill Atop the hill is a famous temple said to be the abode of Narasimha Swami, and hence the hill itself is called (Nara) Simhachalam.

 

Temple History

 

Sri Varaha Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy is the presiding deity. Simhachalam temple is the second richest temple (after Tirupati). You can have ‘Nijaroopa darshan’ holy appearance in true form for 12 hours in a year i.e on Akshaya Tritiya day.

 

The darshan described as Chandana yatra or Chandanotsavam falls annually in Vaisakha masa (May). The deity at Simhachalam temple the lion-man incarnation of Lord Mahavishnu is usually covered with sandalwood paste.

 

The original shape of the deity in the Tribhanga posture has two hands with the head of a lion on a human torso. An inscription dated as far back as 1098 AD of the Chola king Kuloththunga provides some clues 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. With more than 252 inscriptions in Oriya and Telugu describing the antecedents of the temple, it is a historically important monument.

 

Sri Krishna Deva Raya after defeating the Gajapati ruler of Orissa Gajapati Prataparudra Dev visited the shrine twice in 1516 AD and 1519 AD and offered numerous villages for maintenance of Bhogam (worship) along with valuable jewellery an emerald necklace in still in the temple.

 

Temple Architecture:

 

For the last three centuries the Royal family of Vizianagaram, The Pusapati Gajapathi’s have been the temple trustees, This temple was built with Odissan architecture.

 

Legend Says

 

Hiranyakasipu was a Rakshasa king. He was, in fact, one of Vishnu’s Dwarapalakas or gatekeepers in Vaikuntha, Jaya, and Vijaya. One has to take birth in the mortal world because of a curse given by Sanaka, Sanandana, Sanathana and Sanathkumara.

 

They were not allowed to take the darshan of Mahavishnu by them. The other Palaka was born as his brother Hiranyaaksha. Hiranyakasipu wanted to become immortal and hence performed austerities (Tapasya) to propitiate Lord Brahma. However, Lord Brahma said that was not possible.

 

Hiranyakasipu asked Lord Brahma to grant him a boon so that he could not be killed by any animal or a man neither in the morning nor in the night, by any weapons, neither in the sky nor on the earth. Hiranyakasipu wanted the entire world to worship him.

 

But, Prahalada, his son, was a devotee of Lord Narayana and always expressed his bhakti towards Him. Despite warning him several times, Hiranyakasipu could not alter Prahlada’s devotion. This made Hiranyakasipu angry and he made numerous attempts to get Prahlada killed. One of them was to throw him off the top of a mountain. However, Vishnu rescued him by moving the mountain and making a small path for Prahaladha. It is said that the place where the Lord stood to protect Prahaladha is the place where the temple was built.

 

With Best Regards from Get Set Go Travels

 

YouTube Shorts | Instagram Reels | Facebook Reels