Ahobilam trip II

... Contd from the previous blog
Karancha Narasimha:

"Karancha" refers to a tree ("punga maram" in Tamil). Legend says that, Hanuman was performing penance here towards SriRama, when Lord Narasimha appeared before Him. Startled, Hanuman asked for SriRama for which Narasimha replied that this is his Kshetram and that He was Rama, Narasimha et all. The Narasimha here holds a bow in one of his hands (like Rama) to illustrate this. This shrine is just on the roadside on the way between lower to upper Ahobilam and can be accessed by vehicle. The Narasimha here rules Chandra (or Moon).

The following three temples are in Lower Ahobilam and can be covered in 1.5 hours by auto.
Chatravata Narasimha:

"Chatra" means umbrella and "vata" refers to banyan tree - The Narasimha here gave darshan o Bhardwaja Maharishi under a banyan tree and hence the name. The speciality here is that the Narasimha is a music lover (Sangeetha priyan) and He keeps one of His hands on His lap in the gesture of peforming "Adi Taala". He wxpects His devotees to sing here :). The Narasimha here rules Kedhu.

Yogananda Narasimha:

After killing demon Hiranya, Narasimha did Yoga abhyasam (practise) to Prahladha in this place. The idol will be in the form of Narasimma meditating in Padmasana. The Narasimha here rules Shani (or Saturn).

Bhargava Narasimha:

Bhargava refers to Lord Parasu Rama. Legend has it that Lord Narasimma gave darshan to Lord ParasuRama here. One has to take a detour from the main road into a forest (2.5 km drive) to reach this temple. The temple is on a hill of about 100 steps. It is better to visit this place before evening as this place is infested with bears :) (The guide told us after we came back to the main road :D). The Narasimma here rules Surya (or Sun).

Prahladha Varadhan temple:

This is not part of the 9 Narasimma shrines. This temple is located just few metres away from the mutt near the bus stop. This is one of the 108 Divya Desams of Lord Vishnu. The presiding deity here is Lakshmi Narasimma with shrines for Lakshmi, Andal and Rama.
We had completed all the above temples / shrines on the first day with only the 9th of the Nava Narasimma left to cover.

Pavana Narasimma:

This is the 9th Narasimma. "Pavana" means one who "removes all sins". The Lakshmi Narasimma murthy here does exactly the same. To reach here, there are multiple options. (a) Reach upper Ahobilam, and from there climb 1000 steps and walk 6 km. through a dense forest; (b) Take an auto from Lower Ahobilam, travel around 10 km into a forest (bad road) and walk 3 km. in dense forest (Rs. 650 - to and fro) (c) Take a jeep from Lower Ahobilam and travel 15 km to reach very close to the temple (Rs. 1500 - to and fro). We chose option (b). The ride in auto was bumpy and the walk was through real forest - through water bodies, rocks, bushes. We even saw snakes and langur monkeys. There were lot of insects on the ground. Devotees are allowed only during the day time. The Narasimma here rules Budha (or Mercury).

End of a memorable trip. Lot of travelling, rock climbing, mountaineering, trekking, forest walk and what not and of course great darshans everywhere we went :) We had not booked for the return and hence had to break - Ahobilam > Allagadda > Kadappa > Madanapalli > Bangalore.

Some tips for potential travellers:

1. Book tickets to and from Allagadda. This is the nearest and best place to reach Ahobilam.

2. If not phiysically fit or have vertigo etc. better to avoid Ugra sthambam and take a jeep to Pavana Narasimma.

3. Have enough water bottles (glucose etc.) as water will not be available in all the places.

4. Avoid peak summer - It was 44 degrees when we were there.

5. Get accomodation in mutt. There are not many hotels around even for food :)

6. DO NOT miss Prahladha Varadhan temple.

7. Engage a guide else it will be very difficult and risky.
Om Namo Narayanaya!!

Ahobilam trip I

Ahobilam, located in the Nallamala forest range in AP, is the avadhara kshetram (place of incarnation) of Lord Narasimha. We (I, Vikram and Anand) went there last weekend. We took a Nandhyala bus from BLR (20:00) and alighted at Kovelu Kuntla (05:45) and reached Ahobilam via Allagadda at 08:00. Allagadda is the nearest place to Ahobilam (22 km). We had booked accomodation the mutt and we were ready by 08:30.
There are Nava Narasimha shrines (9 Narasimha shrines - each ruling one of the 9 planets), Prahladha Varadhan temple and Ugra sthambham to see in Ahobilam and the remaining part of the blog gives the details :)

Ahobila Narasimha:

"Aho" means exclamation or surprise and "bilam" means cave, in sanskrit - Narasimha gave a surprise darshan to Prahladha in a cave and hence the name. This temple is located at the entrance of upper Ahobilam (8 km from lower Ahobilam) and is accesible by vehicle. The Narasimha here rules Guru (or Jupiter).

Varaha Narasimha:

"Varaha" is the sanskrit word for wild boar. Narasimha, in this form killed the demon Hiranyaaksha (brother of Hiranyakashipu). This is a small shrine roughly 3 km from the Ahobila Narasimha temple. One has to walk this distance through river bed and rocks. This Narasimha rules the planet Raghu.

Jwala Narasimha:

This is the ugra (angry) form of Narasimha who kills Hiranyakashipu to save Prahladha. The Narasimha has 8 hands - Shanka and Chakra in 2, holding Hiranya's head and legs with 2, piercing his stomach with 2 and holding Hiranya's intestine as a garland with the other 2 hands. The Narasimha here sits on Garuda peetam and has Prahladha praying near his feet. There are idols of Narasimha and Hiranya fighting with each other. This shrine under a rock is again a 3 to 4 km walk up the hill from Varaha shrine. One has to pass through the forest / hill (through steps and rocks), across the falling river (Pavanashini) to reach the shrine. This Narasimha rules Angarakha (Mars).
There is a small water body called Ratha kundam - where Narsimha washed the blood off his hand after killing Hiranya.

Ugra Sthambham:

As the name suggests, this is a Sthambham or a pillar - The very pillar from which Lord Narasimha came out in the Kritha Yuga to kill Hiranya and save Prahladha. The route is a steep 2.5 km stretch to be climbed through small / big rocks and tree roots. Very risky route but I saw a 75 year old lady climbing up and down - that's devotion for you!! :) I, in fact, din't get down the last steep stretch (around 2 metres) - firstly, out of fear :D and also because I was able to clearly get the darshan from where I stood :). Climbing down was great fun and we uttered so many prayers and slokhas, which we din't even realize we knew :) One can skip this part if not physically very fit - but devotion can do miracles :)

Malola Narasimha:

"Ma" refers to Mahalakshmi, "lola" means priyan or one who is liked - Malola stands for "liked by Mahalakshmi" - Lakshmi Narasimha shrine, about 4 km from Jwala / Ugra sthambam start - one has to tread back the route from Jwala till a bridge and go to the other side of the bridge and climb through a stretch of 250 steps and plain land and reach this shrine. The Narasimha here rules Shukra (or Venus).
After Malola Narasimha darshan, one has to climb down 3 km again through a stretch of 250 steps and plains to reach the Ahobila Narasimha temple as the other temples / shrines are in different routes.
Please join me for the remaining 5 Narasimhas and the temple visit in the next blog :)