Simhachalam
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Simhachalam is an ancient temple situated near the city of Visakhapatnam, about 11 km from the city, at a height of 244m on Simhagiri Hill. It is one of the most important Vaishnavite shrines in Southern India.
[edit] Temple legend
Simha (simham) means "Lion", and Chalam means "hill". Since, the Perumal reside in the hill, this sthalam is called with the name "Simhachalam".
Hiranyakasipu was a Rakshasa king. He was in fact one of Vishnu's Dwarapalakas or gate keepers in Vaikuntha, Jaya and Vijaya. They had to take birth in the mortal world thrice because of a curse given by some rishis. The other palaka was born as his brother Hiranyaaksha.
Hiranyakasipu wanted to become immortal and hence performed tapasya to propitiate Brahma. However, Brahma said that was not possible and so Hiranyakasipu wished that he could not be killed in the morning or in the night, by an animal or a man etc.
Hiranyakasipu, wanted the entire world to worship him. But, Prahalada, his son, was a devotee of Narayana and always expressed his bhakti towards Sri Vishnu. Inspite of warning him several times, Hiranyakasipu could not alter Prahlada's devotion.
This made Hiranyakasipu angry and he made numerous attempts to get Prahlada killed. One of them was to throw him off the top of a mountain. However, Vishnu rescued him by moving the mountain and made a small path for Prahaladha. It is said that in the place where the Lord stood to protect Prahaladha is the place where the temple is built.
[edit] Temple History
It has Sri Varahalakshmi Narasimha Swamy as the presiding deity. Simhachalam temple is known as the second richest temple (after Tirupati) earning a revenue of Rs. 520 million. The statue of the deity gives "nijaroopa darshan" (holy appearance in true form) for only 12 hours in a year, the rest of the time the statue is covered with sandalwood paste. The darshan described as chandana yatra or chandanotsavam falls every year in Vaisakha masa (May).
The deity at Simhachalam, the lion-man incarnation of Lord Mahavishnu is usually covered with sandalwood paste. The original shape of the deity in the tribhanga posture has two hands with the head of a lion on a human torso.An inscription dated as far back as 1098 AD of the Chola king Kuloththunga provides some clue as to its antiquity. Another inscription shows a queen of the Velavadu chief Ganga (1137-56 AD) covering the image with gold while a third inscription says the eastern Ganga King Narasimha built the central shrine in 1267 A.D. With more than 252 inscriptions describing the antecedents of the temple, it is a historically important monument.
Sri Krishna Deva Raya after defeating Prataparudra Gajapathi visited the shrine twice in 1516 AD and 1519 AD and offered numerous villages for maintenance of bhogam (worship) along with valuable jewellery of which an emerald necklace is still in the temple. For the last two centuries the family of the Raja of Vizianagaram have been the temple's trustees.
[edit] Trivia
The Simhachalam temple faces West unlike so many others which face East. An east-facing entrance, according to religious belief, brings prosperity while a west-facing one brings victory.
