Temples of Andhra Pradesh

Hiranyakashipu, whose brother Hiranyaksha was killed by Vishnu as the boar, wins from Brahma a boon that seems to rule out any death. His son Prahlada still worships Vishnu. When the king demands whether this Lord is…

• 2 · Nava Narasimha

Parashurama — Bhargava Rama, himself counted an incarnation of Vishnu — comes to a pond near Lower Ahobilam and does penance, asking to see Narasimha in the form in which he killed Hiranyakashipu. The shrine above…

• 6 · Nava Narasimha

At Daksha's sacrifice Sati gives up her body in a yogic fire. Shiva carries the body in grief until Vishnu cuts it apart, and each place where a part falls becomes a seat of the Goddess. The Devi Bhagavata's list…

• 6 · Ashtadasa Shakti Peetha

The Bhagavata tells how Narasimha burst from a pillar and tore Hiranyakashipu open at the threshold of his hall. Ahobilam's tradition gives the killing a site: a cave on Achalachaya Meru hill about 4 km above the…

• 1 · Nava Narasimha

Karanja Narasimha sits under a karanja tree beside the ghat road below Upper Ahobilam, beneath a cobra's hood, holding a discus and a bow. The bow gives the shrine its second name, Saranga Narasimha. The local story…

• 5 · Nava Narasimha

Hiranyakashipu's war on Vishnu begins with a death: his brother Hiranyaksha, killed by Hari in the form of a boar. The Bhagavata's Narasimha episode opens with that grief and the vow of revenge that follows. At…

• 4 · Nava Narasimha

Two Gandharvas, the celestial musicians Haha and Huhu, come to Narasimha under a peepal tree near Lower Ahobilam and sing for him. He is pleased and blesses them. The image in the shrine smiles and keeps the beat…

• 8 · Nava Narasimha

Kartikeya returns from circling the earth to learn from Narada that his parents married off his brother Ganesha in his absence. He leaves for Mount Krauncha against their wishes and vows to stay unmarried. Envoys…

• 2 · Dvadasa Jyotirlinga

In the Bhagavata, after Hiranyakashipu's death even Shri is afraid of Narasimha's fierce form and will not approach him. A short climb from the cave at Upper Ahobilam, the Malola shrine shows the opposite: a calm,…

• 3 · Nava Narasimha

Pavana Narasimha stands deep in the Nallamala forest, on the bank of the Pavana river some 6–7 km from Upper Ahobilam. Its image is Narasimha with Lakshmi, sheltered by the serpent Adisesha. The Chenchus, among whom…

• 9 · Nava Narasimha

When no god dares approach the enraged Narasimha, the boy Prahlada does, and Narasimha lays a hand on his head. The Bhagavata goes on to Prahlada's hymn and his enthronement. Ahobilam's tradition adds a sequel set…

• 7 · Nava Narasimha

The asura Tarakasura, a devotee of Shiva, carries a linga in his throat that makes him impossible to kill; even when Kumaraswamy cuts him down, his body rejoins. The linga has to be broken. Kumaraswamy shatters it…

• Pancharama Kshetra

In the shared account, Sati gives up her body at Daksha's sacrifice, Shiva carries it in grief, and Vishnu cuts it apart; each place where a part falls becomes a seat of the Goddess. At Pithapuram, the local belief…

• 10 · Ashtadasa Shakti Peetha

Three creatures — a spider, a serpent and an elephant — each worshipped Shiva at this place, and each died in that devotion. Shiva revived them and granted all three liberation. The town and the temple take their…

• Pancha Bhoota Sthalam

TTD's account of how Vishnu came to stand on the hill. Varaha first settles on Venkatadri after raising the Earth. In the Kali Yuga the sage Bhrigu tests the three gods and kicks Vishnu, who stays calm; Lakshmi,…

The asura Tarakasura, a devotee of Shiva, carries a linga in his throat that makes him impossible to kill; even when Kumaraswamy cuts him down, his body rejoins. The linga has to be broken. Kumaraswamy shatters it…

• Pancharama Kshetra

The asura Tarakasura, a devotee of Shiva, carries a linga in his throat that makes him impossible to kill; even when Kumaraswamy cuts him down, his body rejoins. The linga has to be broken. Kumaraswamy shatters it…

• Pancharama Kshetra

Three brothers — one unable to speak, one unable to hear, one unable to see — dig a well to water their field. Their tool strikes a stone, blood flows, and the brothers are cured. The villagers find the Ganesha image…

The asura Tarakasura, a devotee of Shiva, carries a linga in his throat that makes him impossible to kill; even when Kumaraswamy cuts him down, his body rejoins. The linga has to be broken. Kumaraswamy shatters it…

• Pancharama Kshetra

Daksha excluded Shiva and Sati from his sacrifice. Sati went uninvited, was humiliated, and gave up her life. Shiva took up her body in the dance of dissolution, and Vishnu's discus cut it into eighteen pieces, which…

• 12 · Ashtadasa Shakti Peetha

Temple tradition names the hill after the sage Indrakila, whose penance brought the goddess to settle on it as Kanaka Durga. Another strand of local tradition connects the hill with Arjuna's penance for Shiva's…

The asura Tarakasura, a devotee of Shiva, carries a linga in his throat that makes him impossible to kill; even when Kumaraswamy cuts him down, his body rejoins. The linga has to be broken. Kumaraswamy shatters it…

• Pancharama Kshetra

The temple's tradition ties the hill to Prahlada, the boy devotee whose father Hiranyakashipu tried to kill him, and to Vishnu's appearance as Narasimha to protect him. The site's own form of the god joins Varaha and…