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 :)