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!!