SIMHACHALAM TEMPLE |
Simhachalam temple is well connected from Vizag city centers and there is a local station stop for trains. Long distance express trains usually do not stop here. From Vizag Railway station it is 45 minutes drive by road and 30 minutes from airport. Frequent buses available locally for hill top. There is a Trekking route available for trekking lovers from Madhavadhara side, two hours climbing to temple premises with steep natural stone steps and a beautiful view of Vizag city and at the other side the temple view from hill top. Simhachalam - the hill of the lion is located at a distance of 18 km from Visakhapatnam refers to the 11th century temple of Lord Narasimha - an incarnation of Vishnu. Millions of devotees from round the world visit this temple every year. The presiding deity here is Varaha Lakshminarasimha, combining the iconographic features of Varaha and Narasimha. The image resembles a Shivalingam covered with sandal paste. It is only once a year, during the Chandana Visarjana that the sandal paste is removed, and the image is seen by pilgrims.
SIMHSCHALAM TEMPLE OUT LOOK |
SIMHACHALAM TEMPLE GOPURAM |
Simhachalam temple is well connected from Vizag city centers and there is a local station stop for trains. Long distance express trains usually do not stop here. From Vizag Railway station it is 45 minutes drive by road and 30 minutes from airport. Frequent buses available locally for hill top. There is a Trekking route available for trekking lovers from Madhavadhara side, two hours climbing to temple premises with steep natural stone steps and a beautiful view of Vizag city and at the other side the temple view from hill top.
Simhachalam - the hill of the lion is located at a distance of 18 km from Visakhapatnam refers to the 11th century temple of Lord Narasimha - an incarnation of Vishnu. Millions of devotees from round the world visit this temple every year. The presiding deity here is Varaha Lakshminarasimha, combining the iconographic features of Varaha and Narasimha. The image resembles a Shivalingam covered with sandal paste. It is only once a year, during the Chandana Visarjana that the sandal paste is removed, and the image is seen by pilgrims. The artwork here has elements of similarity with that of Konark. Elephants, flowers and plants are portrayed in plenty. The outer walls of the sanctum depict images of a royal personality (said to be King Narasimha) in various postures. The Kalyana Mandapa within the temple has 16 pillars with bas relief depicting the incarnations of Vishnu.
Simhachalam - the hill of the lion is located at a distance of 18 km from Visakhapatnam refers to the 11th century temple of Lord Narasimha - an incarnation of Vishnu. Millions of devotees from round the world visit this temple every year. The presiding deity here is Varaha Lakshminarasimha, combining the iconographic features of Varaha and Narasimha. The image resembles a Shivalingam covered with sandal paste. It is only once a year, during the Chandana Visarjana that the sandal paste is removed, and the image is seen by pilgrims. The artwork here has elements of similarity with that of Konark. Elephants, flowers and plants are portrayed in plenty. The outer walls of the sanctum depict images of a royal personality (said to be King Narasimha) in various postures. The Kalyana Mandapa within the temple has 16 pillars with bas relief depicting the incarnations of Vishnu.
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 i.e on Akshaya Tritiya day, 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 Eastern Ganga of Kalinga(ancient Orissa) (1137-56 AD) covering the image with gold while a third inscription says the eastern Ganga King of Orissa Narasimha Deva built the main/central shrine in 1267 A.D. With more than 252 inscriptions in Oriya and Telugu describing the antecedents of the temple, it is a historically important monument.
Sri Krishna Deva Raya after defeating the Gajapati ruler of Orissa Gajapati Prataparudra Dev 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. This temple was build in the style of Orissa temple architecture. [edit] Recent Developments In October 2007, the Government of Andhra Pradesh approved a master plan for the development of the region into Divyakshetram on similar lines of Tirumala.