Famous Temples in India

Religious Significance

Legends : According to the legends, the Demon King Hiranyakasipu's son Prahalada was a devotee of Lord Vishnu. This made Hiranyakasipu angry. He tried many ways to alter Prahalada's devotion. However, Hiranyakasipu failed to do so and became infuriated. Therefore, Hiranyakasipu decided to kill Prahalada and made several attempts to kill Prahalada but was saved by Lord Narayana in each instance. Hiranyakasipu asked his servants to throw his son into he sea and place huge mountain over him so that he cannot escape. Hiranyakasipu's servant choose to drop Prahalada in the sea near the mount Simhadri. However, Lord Narayana rescued Prahalada by jumping over the hill and lifting up Prahalada from the sea. When Lord Narayana jumped to save Prahalada, his feet sunk deep into the earth. Therefore, the god's feet are not shown anywhere at the temple, as it is said that his feet are buried in the earth. The legend says that the Simhachalam temple was built on the exact spot where Vishnu stood to protect Prahalada.

Sthala Purana : The Sthala Purana of Simhachalam recounts the history of the great devotee Prahlada Maharaja and his demonic father, Hiranyakashipu. After many unsuccessful attempts to kill Sri Prahlada, Hiranyakashipu orders, as a last resort, to hurl Sri Prahlada into the sea and place a huge mountain over him. The servants chose to do this at Simhachalam. But before they could finish, Narayana rescued Prahlada by jumping over the hill and lifting him from the sea. Simhachalam, therefore, is the place where the Lord rescued Prahlada. It is also said that since the Lord jumped at once to rescue Prahlada, the Lord’s lotus feet went into Patala. The local Sthala Purana says that the Darshana of Lord’s lotus feet is available only to inhabitants of Patala Loka.

At Prahlada’s request, the Lord then assumed the form of the Varaha-Narasimha Deity, so that Prahlada could see both aspects of the Lord-the one by which He had already killed Hiranyaksha and the one by which He would soon kill Hiranyakashipu. After the death of Hiranyakashipu, Prahlada built a temple around the Deity. It is said that after Prahlada handed over the kingdom to his son, he worshipped the deity personally. However at the end of Satya Yuga, owing to neglect perhaps, a huge anthill gathered around the Deity. But at the beginning of another yuga the Deity was rediscovered by Pururava, the king of the lunar dynasty, who is mentioned in the Ninth Canto of the Srimad-Bhagavatam.

Riding with his wife, Urvashi, in an aerial chariot over the hills of the South, Pururava was drawn by a mysterious power to Simhachalam. Some say that Narasimhadeva had appeared in Pururava’s dream and then he went to Simhachalam and he discovered the deity in a Garden of Malati trees. Nonetheless, he discovered the Deity and cleared the earth around Him. Pururava then heard a voice from the sky which told him to cover the Deity with sandal paste, worship the Lord in this form, and expose Him only once a year, on the day of Chandana-yatra. Following this instruction, Pururava covered the Deity with sandal pulp equal to the earth he had removed, worshiped the Deity, and rebuilt the temple, which has flourished ever since.

Threat during invasion : A second legend says that the muslims were about to destroy during an invasion. A poet named Kurmanatha implored lord Varaha Narasimha to save temple. He response for the prayers, A huge swarm of copper hornets suddenly appear and attacked the invading army. The swarm then disappeared behind a hill rock how renourn as Tummedala Mett.