Lord Narasimha temple, Mangalagiri

The Lord Narasimha temple is at the summit of the Mangalagiri hill in Mangalagiritown. It is located in Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh. The shape of the hill looks like an elephant. There are three temples of Lord Narasimha namely Panakala Narasimha Swamy templeon the hill, Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy temple at the foot of the temple, Gandala Narasimha Swamy temple at the top of the hill. Lord Vishnu has manifested himself as Thotadriin Mangalagiri, which is one of the 8 important sacred places in India.

Etymology

Mangalagiri in the local language means The Auspicious Hill.It has got the name because of the penance done by Goddess Lakshmi. Hence, the town became popular with the name Mangalagiri. Hrasva Srungi, the son of Pariyatra (an ancient king), who had practiced penance in praise of Lord Vishnu. Later, he became the the abode of Vishnu (Hindu deity) by taking the shape of an elephant. From then, the Vishnu, here is known with the name Panakala Narasimha Swamy.

Temple and its surroundings

Temple of Narasimha is situated on the hill. It has stone inscriptions by Sri Krishnadeva Raya of Vijayanagara Empire, it was made during his conquest of Kondapalli. The steps to the temple were constructed by Sri Channapragada Balaramadasu in 1890. In 1955, temple flag post was erected in front of the temple and a ghat road to the temple was completed in 2004. The surrounding areas include the a tunnel to the west which is believed to lead to Undavalli caves on the banks of the Krishna river, a lamp lit by ghee on top of the temple hill, which is visible from far distance.

The temple tank located here is believed to be created by the Gods and is named as Lakshmi Pushkarini. There is a temple of at the foot of the hill. Yudhishtira is said to be the founder of the chief image of this temple and the deity here is called Sri Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy.

Myths on the name of god

The Demon Namuchi

The Lord has established himself on the hill in the form of Narasimha (man-lion) which Lord Vishnu assumed to kill Hiranyakashipu, father of Prahlada. In Krithayugam, Namuchi, a demon after great penance obtained a boon from Lord Brahma that "he would not be killed by any matter such as either man or animal, on land or in air etc". He began to harass Indra and the gods. Lord Vishnu killed him and took amrutham to cool his anger. He said that "

he would be satisfied with ghee in Treta Yuga, with milk in Dvapara Yuga and with Jaggery water (panakam) in Kali Yuga" and hence, the Lord is called in Kaliyugam as Panakala Lakshmi Narasimhaswamy.

Jaggery water

There is another story behind the name of the god. When devotees offer jaggery water to god by a conch and poured into the mouth of the Lord, a gargling sound is audible, as if the Lord is actually drinking it. The shrilling sound of drinking will stop after sometime and the balance of the jaggery water is thrown out. An interesting point is, there are no ants traceable in spite of jaggery water. Hence, Vishnu is called Panakala Narasimha Swamy. The hill was believed to be a volcano and sulphur compounds are neutralized by Jaggery water which prevents a volcanic eruption.