Andhra Pradesh and Sri Narasimhan Temples

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Please enjoy this article=============================================================At home in verdant settingThe thick forests of Andhra Pradesh seem to be the natural abodeof the Lion-God Narasimha. MAYA NARASIMHAN writes about the fivemanifestations.EACH REGION of India has a special place for its own God.Although temples abound for all deities of the Hindu pantheoneverywhere in the country, a regional inclination is clearlyvisible. Thus we have the adoration for Krishna in Uttar Pradesh,the affection of Maharashtra for Ganesha, the reverence forHanuman in Karnataka, the love of the Tamils for the "Tamil God"Muruga.The presence of large tracts of forest and hills uninhabited forthe most part, areas where lions would have freely roamed once,may be the reason why Andhra Pradesh seems to have evolved adistinct worship of Vishnu's fourth avatar, Narasimha. Theparadox, a raw ferociousness suffused with an imponderablegentleness, is perhaps, what draws one again and again to theshrines of Narasimha.It is not too long after our inspiring visit to Ahobilam that wedecide to visit the temples of Narasimha near Vijayawada. As wethunder over the last bridge to the city 350 km from Chennai,water-starved souls that we are, we drink in with our every nervethe serene overflow of the river Krishna. Truly blessed are thosewho live on the banks of a river!Our programme for the first day is Mattapalli, a temple toNarasimha, on the banks of the Krishna, 150 km from Vijayawada.Mattapalli, not very well-known some years ago, was made popularby the late Sri Mukkur Lakshminarasimhachariar, who unfailinglyspoke about the Lord in all his discourses, and as those who hadattended his discourses say, the Lord, too, spoke through him.Past Huzur Nagar, where we pass through a pleasant enoughmarketplace, lively with fruits and fresh vegetables and people,the road turns into a driver's nightmare. It is only another 25km. and after all, are we not veterans after driving through theChennai roads?At least there is no traffic on this road, in fact, there isnothing around and beyond, too, it seems. "Where are thevillages? Where are the ubiquitous people of our land?" , wemuse. All we see around us is shrub vegetation, occasional fieldslying fallow, and the tall chimneystacks of cement factoriespushing their noses up through the greenery.We have a sense of going into the unknown. Our driver seemsknowledgeable enough, if anything, a little too cocky forcomfort. Sure enough, we are soon at the end of the road and atour destination. A picture to be found anywhere in India - apeepul, a gopuram and a few shops scattered around.As we cross into the temple, we see the Krishna on our left. Likemany a Narasimha temple, the one in Mattapalli is a cave. We filethrough a short narrow passage and face the God immediately. Abas-relief, the silver kavacham, displays a fierce lion form withtribal overtones, moustache and all. On the wall, next to themain deity is his consort Rajalakshmi. On her right can be seen apassage in the rock face, leading out, now blocked. This is theway to the river, through which the sage Bharadwaja is believedto have come every day to worship the deity. "A few years ago,the river in spate came in through here and engulfed the Lord,"says the priest. "We have photographs."The auspicious rituals are conducted and the priest continueswith his story: "As you can see, this is a remote place. The Lordwas worshipped only by the rishis and the devas. He then,appeared to a local, Masi Reddy, in a dream, told him thelocation of his abode which could be identified by the tree "thevedapatri," and instructed him to open up the cave so that humanbeings could also worship him.``Masi Reddy could not find the tree at first. In his secondattempt he saw a refulgent bird seated on it, and a monkey ledhim to the exact place in the face of the mountain that needed tobe opened up.'' The temple closes at 12.30 p.m. and opens brieflybefore 1.30 p.m. for a final aarthi and distribution of prasadam.Suddenly, there are around 30 to 40 people there. The temple doesnot open in the evenings for they are held sacred for worship bythe rishis.We learn of other Narasimha shrines nearby. Mattapalli isactually the centre and in all four directions, there are othertemples - Vedadri, Vadapally, Vethapuram and Mangalagiri - thepancha Narasimha kshetras.Vedadri is only a short detour of 10 km on the way back toVijayawada. A conventional temple, the deity has its own charm.The utsava idols are extraordinarily high and impressive. Thedwajasthamba is of imposing girth and height. A rock , which isactually a Narasimha in shalagrama form, can be seen in thewaters of the rivers.Mangalagiri: Devotees know the place as the abode of PanagaNarasimha, seated on a hill, the deity for whom panagam - thejaggery beverage usually made for Sri Rama Navami and NarasimhaJayanthi - is the preferred offering.It is early morning. As we ascend the shallow steps, 350 innumber, the suburb of Mangalagiri, 10 km outside Vijayawada,reclines in soft monsoon green. Wherever we turn, the green restsour eye and the Cambodia like spire of the temple in the townseems to follow us on our climb.This, too, is a cave temple. Hardly four can stand near thedeity, that is enveloped in darkness for the most part, thesingle lamp suggesting rather than enlightening. All of us haveopted for the jaggery panagam (Rs. 60) as against the kalkandupanagam (Rs. 40). The priest pours half of the panagam into themouth of the deity. The deity does not accept more than half ofwhat is offered.Our rational minds quickly find an explanation for the happening.What is far more interesting is to see the deity without hissilver armour. Here is no idol nor even a bas-relief. All we seeis a ragged aperture in the cave face, and on either side areseen the ammonite- like whorls of the discus and the conch. Arethese natural, or have they been carved in the remote past bysome devotee - a tribal, a chieftain, a king?Strange, Primordial. Our questions no longer have any relevance.Reason has no standing before faith.We have a glass each of the other half of the panagam that isreturned to us, to take home, if we so wish. "Though the outsideteems with ants and flies, none can be seen where the offering isprepared," says our guide. That is an undeniable fact.Another thirty steps take us up to the back of the cave where acharmingly animated Ranganatha with folklore features reclines.Another few steps and we are with Rajalakshmi, Consort of theLord.A certain commercialism hovers in the air - panagam Rs. 60 or Rs.40 archana Rs. 10, darshan of the Lord without the kavacham Rs.5. Yet, there would have been no rancour even if we had declinedall the methods of pleasing the Lord.With a last photograph of the gentle Garuda underneath thedwajasthamba itself, of pleasingly ancient and weathered wood, wewend our way to the temple of Sri Lakshminarasimha at the foot ofthe hill.Several gopurams including the Angkor Wat-like one punctuate thistraditional structure of Vijayanagar patronage. The sanctum isminimalist in tone and tenor, a refreshing change fromgarbagrihas in most temples. The Lord is supposedly ugra, angryand violent, yet it is a sense of shanti that one gains from him,perhaps because of Lakshmi seated on His lap, and who, unlike inother representations, looks not towards the devotees but towardsthe Lord in order to pacify Him.The elderly priest performs the archana with sincere devotion.With genuine interest, he shows us the fabulous collection ofshalagramas, indicating the individual markings thatdifferentiate the Matsya from the Varaha, the Varaha from theNarasimha and all from the Anantha and Krishna. The temple alsopossesses a great valampuri shankhu, the second largest in India.The idols of the Azhwars in the prakaram outside also possessspecial aesthetics, particularly Thirumangaiazhwar and Andal. TheBhattar follows to point out to us the original painting of thedeity by Ravi Varma. Apparently the artist king had visited thetemple in 1890. and had been so enamoured of the deity that hehad immediately taken up his oils to enshrine his vision.Lakshmi as Rajyalakshmi blesses devotees from Her own sanctum. Asit was the auspicious Friday in the month of Adi, a group ofwomen had brought what seemed to be 1,008 lotuses to decorate theMother. In this small secondary shrine, beauty, peace and faithemanate from the gentle face of the Goddess.In this temple, more than anywhere else, the divine couple seemsto be united in their purpose to help confused mortals cross thislife, whose meaning escapes grasp, to the shore of understandingwhere all questions are answered.* * *Mattapalli-Vedadri-Mangalagiri (Two-day trip)Railhead: Vijayawada- 350 km from Chennai accessible by Tamil Nadu Express/CoromandelExpress. Tamil Nadu Express reaches by 5 a.m. Mattapalli: 150 kmon the Vijayawada-Hyderabad National Highway, 25 km from HuzurNagar. Vedadri: 10 km from Kodada (Jayantipuram Cement Factorysignboard on the highway) Mangalagiri: 10 km outside Vijayawadaon the Vijayawada-Chennai National Highway, also a weavingcentre.

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So picturesque!  Now, I am tempted to take a trip to this area!  Thank you!  Adiyen,VijayaOn Feb 8, 2008, at 5:18 PM, Dr. Sadagopan wrote:Please enjoy this article=============================================================At home in verdant settingThe thick forests of Andhra Pradesh seem to be the natural abodeof the Lion-God Narasimha. MAYA NARASIMHAN writes about the fivemanifestations.EACH REGION of India has a special place for its own God.Although temples abound for all deities of the Hindu pantheoneverywhere in the country, a regional inclination is clearlyvisible. Thus we have the adoration for Krishna in Uttar Pradesh,the affection of Maharashtra for Ganesha, the reverence forHanuman in Karnataka, the love of the Tamils for the "Tamil God"Muruga.The presence of large tracts of forest and hills uninhabited forthe most part, areas where lions would have freely roamed once,may be the reason why Andhra Pradesh seems to have evolved adistinct worship of Vishnu's fourth avatar, Narasimha. Theparadox, a raw ferociousness suffused with an imponderablegentleness, is perhaps, what draws one again and again to theshrines of Narasimha.It is not too long after our inspiring visit to Ahobilam that wedecide to visit the temples of Narasimha near Vijayawada. As wethunder over the last bridge to the city 350 km from Chennai,water-starved souls that we are, we drink in with our every nervethe serene overflow of the river Krishna. Truly blessed are thosewho live on the banks of a river!Our programme for the first day is Mattapalli, a temple toNarasimha, on the banks of the Krishna, 150 km from Vijayawada.Mattapalli, not very well-known some years ago, was made popularby the late Sri Mukkur Lakshminarasimhachariar, who unfailinglyspoke about the Lord in all his discourses, and as those who hadattended his discourses say, the Lord, too, spoke through him.Past Huzur Nagar, where we pass through a pleasant enoughmarketplace, lively with fruits and fresh vegetables and people,the road turns into a driver's nightmare. It is only another 25km. and after all, are we not veterans after driving through theChennai roads?At least there is no traffic on this road, in fact, there isnothing around and beyond, too, it seems. "Where are thevillages? Where are the ubiquitous people of our land?" , wemuse. All we see around us is shrub vegetation, occasional fieldslying fallow, and the tall chimneystacks of cement factoriespushing their noses up through the greenery.We have a sense of going into the unknown. Our driver seemsknowledgeable enough, if anything, a little too cocky forcomfort. Sure enough, we are soon at the end of the road and atour destination. A picture to be found anywhere in India - apeepul, a gopuram and a few shops scattered around.As we cross into the temple, we see the Krishna on our left. Likemany a Narasimha temple, the one in Mattapalli is a cave. We filethrough a short narrow passage and face the God immediately. Abas-relief, the silver kavacham, displays a fierce lion form withtribal overtones, moustache and all. On the wall, next to themain deity is his consort Rajalakshmi. On her right can be seen apassage in the rock face, leading out, now blocked. This is theway to the river, through which the sage Bharadwaja is believedto have come every day to worship the deity. "A few years ago,the river in spate came in through here and engulfed the Lord,"says the priest. "We have photographs."The auspicious rituals are conducted and the priest continueswith his story: "As you can see, this is a remote place. The Lordwas worshipped only by the rishis and the devas. He then,appeared to a local, Masi Reddy, in a dream, told him thelocation of his abode which could be identified by the tree "thevedapatri," and instructed him to open up the cave so that humanbeings could also worship him.``Masi Reddy could not find the tree at first. In his secondattempt he saw a refulgent bird seated on it, and a monkey ledhim to the exact place in the face of the mountain that needed tobe opened up.'' The temple closes at 12.30 p.m. and opens brieflybefore 1.30 p.m. for a final aarthi and distribution of prasadam.Suddenly, there are around 30 to 40 people there. The temple doesnot open in the evenings for they are held sacred for worship bythe rishis.We learn of other Narasimha shrines nearby. Mattapalli isactually the centre and in all four directions, there are othertemples - Vedadri, Vadapally, Vethapuram and Mangalagiri - thepancha Narasimha kshetras.Vedadri is only a short detour of 10 km on the way back toVijayawada. A conventional temple, the deity has its own charm.The utsava idols are extraordinarily high and impressive. Thedwajasthamba is of imposing girth and height. A rock , which isactually a Narasimha in shalagrama form, can be seen in thewaters of the rivers.Mangalagiri: Devotees know the place as the abode of PanagaNarasimha, seated on a hill, the deity for whom panagam - thejaggery beverage usually made for Sri Rama Navami and NarasimhaJayanthi - is the preferred offering.It is early morning. As we ascend the shallow steps, 350 innumber, the suburb of Mangalagiri, 10 km outside Vijayawada,reclines in soft monsoon green. Wherever we turn, the green restsour eye and the Cambodia like spire of the temple in the townseems to follow us on our climb.This, too, is a cave temple. Hardly four can stand near thedeity, that is enveloped in darkness for the most part, thesingle lamp suggesting rather than enlightening. All of us haveopted for the jaggery panagam (Rs. 60) as against the kalkandupanagam (Rs. 40). The priest pours half of the panagam into themouth of the deity. The deity does not accept more than half ofwhat is offered.Our rational minds quickly find an explanation for the happening.What is far more interesting is to see the deity without hissilver armour. Here is no idol nor even a bas-relief. All we seeis a ragged aperture in the cave face, and on either side areseen the ammonite- like whorls of the discus and the conch. Arethese natural, or have they been carved in the remote past bysome devotee - a tribal, a chieftain, a king?Strange, Primordial. Our questions no longer have any relevance.Reason has no standing before faith.We have a glass each of the other half of the panagam that isreturned to us, to take home, if we so wish. "Though the outsideteems with ants and flies, none can be seen where the offering isprepared," says our guide. That is an undeniable fact.Another thirty steps take us up to the back of the cave where acharmingly animated Ranganatha with folklore features reclines.Another few steps and we are with Rajalakshmi, Consort of theLord.A certain commercialism hovers in the air - panagam Rs. 60 or Rs.40 archana Rs. 10, darshan of the Lord without the kavacham Rs.5. Yet, there would have been no rancour even if we had declinedall the methods of pleasing the Lord.With a last photograph of the gentle Garuda underneath thedwajasthamba itself, of pleasingly ancient and weathered wood, wewend our way to the temple of Sri Lakshminarasimha at the foot ofthe hill.Several gopurams including the Angkor Wat-like one punctuate thistraditional structure of Vijayanagar patronage. The sanctum isminimalist in tone and tenor, a refreshing change fromgarbagrihas in most temples. The Lord is supposedly ugra, angryand violent, yet it is a sense of shanti that one gains from him,perhaps because of Lakshmi seated on His lap, and who, unlike inother representations, looks not towards the devotees but towardsthe Lord in order to pacify Him.The elderly priest performs the archana with sincere devotion.With genuine interest, he shows us the fabulous collection ofshalagramas, indicating the individual markings thatdifferentiate the Matsya from the Varaha, the Varaha from theNarasimha and all from the Anantha and Krishna. The temple alsopossesses a great valampuri shankhu, the second largest in India.The idols of the Azhwars in the prakaram outside also possessspecial aesthetics, particularly Thirumangaiazhwar and Andal. TheBhattar follows to point out to us the original painting of thedeity by Ravi Varma. Apparently the artist king had visited thetemple in 1890. and had been so enamoured of the deity that hehad immediately taken up his oils to enshrine his vision.Lakshmi as Rajyalakshmi blesses devotees from Her own sanctum. Asit was the auspicious Friday in the month of Adi, a group ofwomen had brought what seemed to be 1,008 lotuses to decorate theMother. In this small secondary shrine, beauty, peace and faithemanate from the gentle face of the Goddess.In this temple, more than anywhere else, the divine couple seemsto be united in their purpose to help confused mortals cross thislife, whose meaning escapes grasp, to the shore of understandingwhere all questions are answered.* * *Mattapalli-Vedadri-Mangalagiri (Two-day trip)Railhead: Vijayawada- 350 km from Chennai accessible by Tamil Nadu Express/CoromandelExpress. Tamil Nadu Express reaches by 5 a.m. Mattapalli: 150 kmon the Vijayawada-Hyderabad National Highway, 25 km from HuzurNagar. Vedadri: 10 km from Kodada (Jayantipuram Cement Factorysignboard on the highway) Mangalagiri: 10 km outside Vijayawadaon the Vijayawada-Chennai National Highway, also a weavingcentre.

[Guest guest]

>

> Our programme for the first day is Mattapalli, a temple to

> Narasimha, on the banks of the Krishna, 150 km from Vijayawada.

> Mattapalli, not very well-known some years ago, was made popular

> by the late Sri Mukkur Lakshminarasimhachariar, who unfailingly

> spoke about the Lord in all his discourses, and as those who had

> attended his discourses say, the Lord, too, spoke through him.

>

>

> ``Masi Reddy could not find the tree at first. In his second

> attempt he saw a refulgent bird seated on it, and a monkey led

> him to the exact place in the face of the mountain that needed to

> be opened up.'' The temple closes at 12.30 p.m. and opens briefly

> before 1.30 p.m. for a final aarthi and distribution of prasadam.

> Suddenly, there are around 30 to 40 people there. The temple does

> not open in the evenings for they are held sacred for worship by

> the rishis.

 

This is not true. The temple opens again by 4.30 PM and the sAyam pUja

is done around 6:30 PM. Friday evening is the time to be there when

the locals, in thousands, gather for an auspicious night stay. Their

bhajans and dances are a treat for the eyes and ears.

 

Regards

adiyEn

[Guest guest]

-

" csdesikan " <csdesikan

<Oppiliappan >

Tuesday, February 12, 2008 2:50 AM

Re: Andhra Pradesh and Sri Narasimhan Temples

 

 

I agree any one who reads this article will plan a trip to andhra to

worship Narasimhan.one can visualise the places and poojas

adiyen dasan

desikan