The Divya Kshetram AHOBILAM is
located near Arlagadda in Nandyal District of Andhra Pradesh. There are buses
from Arlagadda to Ahobilam. The presiding deity in the main temple is
Narasimhar, also called Prahladavaradan, and is in a seated form. The Goddess
is Amritavalli. The sacred water is Indra Theertham and the sanctum sanctorum
is Guhai Vimanam.
The legend has it that Garuda,
desirous of seeing Lord Vishnu as Narasimha Avatara, meditated upon Him, and
the Lord manifested Himself in nine forms of Narasimha. Besides the shrine for
Lakshmi Narasimhar at the base temple, there are nine temples on the adjoining
Nallamala Hills, and almost all of them have to be trekked, with some being
arduous to reach. They are:
Varaha Narasimhar
Malola Narasimhar
Yogananda Narasimhar
Pavana Narasimhar
Karanja Narasimhar
Chakra Vada Narasimhar
Bhargava Narasimhar
Jwala Narasimhar
Ahobila Narasimhar
There is a pillar near Jwala
Narasimhar shrine, from which Lord Narasimha is believed to have emanated and
killed Hiranyakasipu. The Ahobila Narasimhar temple has now a motorable road.
Mahalakshmi is believed to have
reincarnated into the family of the tribal as Chenchulakshmi, and married
Narasimha, who was hovering around the hills after killing Hiranyakasipu. The
Nallamala Hills are personified as Adisesha, with his head at Tirumala, middle
at Ahobilam, and the tail at Srisailam.
The annual festival is during the
Tamil month of Maasi. The local tribals celebrate the marriage of
Chenchulakshmi and Narasimhar.
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