Ahobilam – The Nava Narasimha Kshetra – Thiru Singavel Kundram

Ahobilam is located in the Kurnool district of Andhra Pradesh amidst the majestic hills of the Eastern Ghats range. It is here that the Supreme Personality of Godhead incarnated Himself as Lord Narasimha to kill the demon Hiranyakashipu and save His great devotee Prahlada. This is one of the major pilgrimage centres in South India and is one among the 108 divya-deshams. It is also known as Thiru Singavel Kundram. The Brahmanda Purana states that Ahobilam was the dwelling of the demon king Hiranyakashipu who was killed by the Lord.

Ahobilam – The Great Strength

aho viryam aho shauryam aho bahuparakramah
narasimham param daivam ahobilam aho balam

When the Supreme Lord incarnated as Lord Narasimhadev – the half-lion and half-man, he tore apart Hiranyakashipu into pieces. Witnessing this wonderful pastime, the demigods praised Lord Narasimhadev as ‘ahobala’ meaning ‘the great strength’.

In order to have darshan of Lord Narasimhadev, Garuda meditated on one of the mountains in the Nallamallai hills range for thousands of years. Being pleased by his meditation, the Lord manifested Himself in a cave nearby. Garuda was then informed about the location of this cave. He reached here and had darshan of the Lord. He worshipped the Lord with the selected verses and after having darshan of the Lord and having worshipped Him, Garuda considered himself blessed and thus this place came to be known as Ahobilam. The mountain on which Garuda performed austerities came to be known as Garudachala, Garudadri and Garudashailam.

Nava Narasimha Temples in Ahobilam

There are nine temples of Lord Narasimha in Ahobilam which house the self-manifested Deities of the Lord.

jwala ahobila malola kroda karanja bhargava
yogananda kshatravata pavana nava murthayaha

The nine Deities are Sri Jwala Narasimha, Sri Ahobila Narasimha, Sri Malola Narasimha, Sri Kroda Narasimha, Sri Karanja Narasimha, Sri Bhargava Narasimha, Sri Yogananda Narasimha, Sri Kshatravata Narasimha and Sri Pavana Narasimha.

Tirtha Yatra organizes Ahobilam Yatra once every month from Bengaluru and Chennai. For reserving your seats call us at 9844700850 or click here.

Temples in Upper Ahobilam (Eguva Ahobilam)

Sri Ahobila Narasimha

This is the main and the oldest temple among the nine temples in Ahobilam. This shaligrama form of Ahobila Narasimha is fierce (Ugra) and is in the sukhasana pose.

Sri Kroda Narasimha

Sri Kroda Narasimha also glorified by devotees as Varaha Narasimha is a very special form of the Lord with the face of a boar. Along with Sri Kroda Narasimha, one can also have darshan of Sri Lakshmi Narasimha in this temple.

Sri Malola Narasimha

The Deity of Lord Narasimha here is in a peaceful form since Lakshmidevi is also present. Ma means Mother Lakshmi and lola means beloved. The Supreme Lord Narasimha is the beloved of mother Lakshmi and hence is glorified as Malola Narasimha.

Sri Jwala Narasimha

The Deity of Lord Narasimha here is seen tearing Hiranyakashipu with His radiant nails. There are other two forms of the Lord – Sthanu Narasimha (emerging out of the pillar) and Veera Narasimha (fighting with Hiranyakashipu).

There is a small pond near this temple called Rakta Kunda Tirtha. Here Lord Narasimha washed His blood-stained hands and hence the color of the water of this kunda turned red. Today also one can see the red stains around this tirtha. The water of this tirtha is crystal clear and is very sweet.

The Temples in Lower Ahobilam (Diguva Ahobilam)

Sri Yogananda Narasimha

After killing Hiranyakashipu, Lord Narasimhadev here taught Prahlada few yogic postures to practice. This form of the Lord is seated in a padmasana with yogapatta around His legs.

Sri Chatravatha Narasimha

This Deity of the Lord is very unique as He has got a very beautiful wide smile on His face. Since the Lord is worshiped under a peepal tree, surrounded by the thorny wishes, He is famous as Chatravatha Narasimha. The left hand of the Lord is in the tala mudra.

Sri Pavana Narasimha

This temple is on the banks of the river Pavana and hence the Lord is known as Pavana Narasimha. This is the most peaceful form of the Lord amongst the nine Narasimha temples.

Tirtha Yatra organizes Ahobilam Yatra once every month from Bengaluru and Chennai. For reserving your seats call us at 9844700850 or click here.

Sri Bhargava Narasimha

This is one of the most ferocious forms of Lord Narasimha in Ahobilam. This temple is located on the banks of Akshaya Tirtha which is considered on par with the sacred Pushkara Tirtha. Parashurama would bathe in this kunda and use this water for the worship of Lord Bhargava Narasimha.

Sri Karanja Narasimha

The Deity of Lord Narasimha is under the Karanja Tree, hence He is known as Karanja Narasimha. Karanja Tree is also called as Honge Mara in the local language. He is also known as Saaranga Narasimha because He is holding the bow named Saaranga.

Other Places of Darshan in Ahobilam

Ugra Stambha

This mountain is the remain of the pillar from which Lord Narasimha appeared. It is said that when the Lord emerged out of the pillar, the whole pillar was shattered to pieces. This is also called as Ukku Stambha. Ukku in Telugu means steel. Atop Ugra Stambha there is an impression of the lotus feet of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu who visited this place during His south Indian trip.

Prahlada Mettu or Prahlada Badi

Around this cave, Prahlada Maharaja wrote ‘om namo narayana’ and ‘om namo bhagavate vasudevaya’ on the rocks. Devotees can still those transcendental letters. One can also have darshan of Sri Yoga Narasimha, Sri Sudarshana and Sri Narayana Murthy in this cave.

Sri Prahlada Varada Temple

The temple of Sri Prahlada Varada is situated in Lower Ahobilam. Here Lord Narasimha is blessing Prahlada Maharaja. The family Deity of Sri Srinivasa Govinda in Tirupati is Lord Narasimha in Ahobilam. Because the Lord was in the fierce form, Srinivasa installed the Deity of the Lord in the shantha form and worshiped Him before His marriage with Padmavathi Devi.

Ahobilam temple timings

The temples in upper Ahobilam and lower Ahobilam are opened from 7 am to 5 pm with a gap of lunch for an hour in the afternoon

Festivals celebrated in Ahobilam

Brahmotsava is celebrated every year in the month of Phalguna (Mar-Apr). Apart from this, every month on the Swati Nakshatra (the star of the Lord), the gramotsava is celebrated. On this day an abhisheka is performed to Sri Narasimha with 108 kalashas.

Best time to visit Ahobilam

The best time to visit Ahobilam is soon after rainy season i.e, August and September. One can see Ahobilam in its full beauty with all the waterfalls and rivers filled up. July to February is ideal to visit Ahobilam. The other months are very hot with temperature ranging from 35 degree celcius to 45 degree celcius.

How to reach Ahobilam

One can reach Ahobilam by air, train or bus. The nearest airports are Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Chennai. The nearest railway station is Nandiyal and Kurnool. From Nandiyal and Kurnool you should reach Allagadda. From Allagadda every 45 minutes there is a bus to Ahobilam. From Hyderabad one has to reach Kurnool and then take a bus or taxi to Ahobilam. Direct buses are available from Hyderabad and Bengaluru to Allagadda.

Places to stay and eat

There are quite a good guest houses in Ahobilam. There are good restaurants as well in Ahobilam. There is a Nitya Annandana hall where the lunch is served everyday to the pilgrims. Since Ahobilam is a forest area, you get bare facilities. However it is always good to be prepared with basic facilities like warm clothes, etc.

Mangalasasanam

Mangalasasanam by Thirumangai Alwar

Vimana: Guhai Vimana

Pushkarani: Papanashini Tirtham

Mulavar Perumal Name: Lakshmi Narasimha

Utsavar Perumal Name: Malolan, Sriraman, Prahlada Varadan

Hastam / Mudrai: Abhaya Hastam

Pose: Sitting facing East

Mulavar Thayar Name: Chenchu Lakshmi and Amritavalli Thayar

Purana: Brahmanda Purana

Utsavar Thayar Name: Ranganayaki

Purana: Brahmanda Purana

Tirtha Yatra organizes Ahobilam Yatra on the last weekend of every month from Bengaluru and Chennai. For reserving your seats call us at 9844700850 or click here.

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