Simhachala kshetramu

Simhachala kshetramu
https://ramamohanraocheruku.blogspot.com/2019/04/simhadri-appanna-shrivaraha-lakshmi.html

Shri Varaha Lakshmi Narasimha temple is situated on the Simhachalam hill. The hill range having the temple is a part of the Eastern Ghats and is named Kailasa. The temple is situated on the hill 800 meters (2,600 ft.) above the sea level at a distance of ten miles to the north of Visakhapatnam. Simhachalam town is situated 300 meters below the temple. It is located nearly North side to Visakhapatnam. It is dedicated to one of the Hindu trinity deities Vishnu, who is worshipped there as Varaha Narasimha.

As per the temple’s legend, Vishnu manifested in this peculiar form, with a boar head, human torso and a lion’s tail, after saving his devotee Prahlada from his father Hiranyakashipu. But we do not find any such reference in Puranas but for, may be, in local Sthalapurana, which may be an insertion. Any ways the legend attributed will not come closer to Vishnu Purana, Varaha Purana or Bhagavata Purana. None of these Puranas say about taking the peculiar form of Varaha Narasimha. Moreover In the middle of Nalamala ghat range we find AHOBALA (Ahobilam) which contain the evidences of Narasimha, Prahlada, Hiranyakasipu, Chenchulakshmi and so on. We can find there Nava-Narasimha temples also there. (In its true sense TEMPLE does not denote what we call as Devalayamu, Kovela, Gudi, Mandiramu etc. It is unfortunate to use temple as a substitute to these sacred and meaningful words). The Sthalapurana also synchronizes with the Puranas referred above.

Prior to 11^th century, Simhachalam’s deity was believed to be Shiva. The notable ones were the unusual position of the deity’s idol, the gate at the lower terrain named Bhairava Dwaram. There are two temple tanks Swami Pushkarini near the temple and Gangadhara at the bottom of the hill. I could not find in my trail to explore whether the name ‘Swami Pushkarini’ is adopted from Tirumala or the name of the pool itself is that. If it is so as per Niruktha and also what I heard from Sri Sri Sri Chandrasekhara Saraswati Mahaswami ‘Swami’ is another name of Shanmukha. Then both the pools are related to Lord Siva. There was time when the Idol was considered as Siva-Linga and being worshipped as Siva by the devotees. After the advent of Swami Ramanuja in 11^th century the temple was converted into a Vaishnavaite temple and the religious practices and customs of the temple started following the lineage shifted to Pancharatra Agama. The second temple tank being referred to with the name Ganga-dhaara.

The temple said to have been built in the 9th or the 10th century but I could not find any evidence to that effect. However there are standing evidences which establishes that the ‘Alayam’ was extensively rebuilt in the 13th century however we can find the inscriptions of 11^th century. There are 525 inscriptions in this temple, and the earlier one dates back to 1087 A.D. as per the records. Actually this is the period around which Swami Ramanuja visited this place. 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, in 1267 A.D. Narasimha Deva, built the main/central shrine . So all the evidences

Compel to conclude that things started getting altered in 11^th century.

Except on Akshaya Tritiya, the idol of Varaha Narasimha is covered with sandalwood paste throughout the year, making it resemble a Shiva Lingam. Actually Akshaya Tritiya signifies the birth of Parashurama and a tithi dearer to Goddess Lakshmi. Though Parashurama is incarnation of Lord Vishnu he is a staunch devotee of Lord Siva. It is the only incarnation where the artist uses ‘Vibhuti’  

Confirming the Shastra – Slokas
Aakaasaat patitam toyam yathaa gacchati sagaram

Sarva deva namaskaram kesavam prathigacchati

Any God worshipped in any form will be the same one who is,

All-pervading omnipotent omnipresent and omniscient like the rain drops gradually becomes a huge river and culminates into the sea.

Sivaya vishnuroopaaya sivaroopaaya vishnave

Sivasya hridayam Vishnuh Vishnoscha hridayam Sivah   

Consider no distinction between Siva and Vishnu. Worship 5them as you like. While Vishnu is the heart of Siva, Siva is the heart of Vishnu. The similes are just to make us understand. They are not human beings having hearts which may be subjected to operation. Moreover Goddess Lakshmi is the feminine form of Lord Siva as both of them shower prosperity. (‘Sam’ in Sankara is prosperity and Lakshmi is also prosperity). All these things convey us not to take sides as it will tantamount to an incongruous act. With all the above explanation are these customs of the temple look odd for anybody who knows about Puranas.

Now we come to the argument put forth by Sri Ramanujacharya. Ramanuja argued that the idol of Varaha Narasimha is in a posture in accordance with the Pancharatra Agama rules. Pancharatra Agama rules are for a particular set of Vishnavas. How can they be acceptable to the Vaidics or Smarthas? While Smarthas believe in one God of any form, even male or female, Vaishnavas consider only Vishnu as God. More over Vishnavas are mainly divided into ‘thenkalai’ vadakalai’ ‘vaikhanasa’ who have their own systems and ritualistic procedures.

You can see the 21^st October ‘Swarajya’ for the order given by Madras High Court to stop the recital of Nalayira Prabandham till further orders at Kanchi Varadaraja Kovil. (Swarajyamag.com, Oct21 2018)This is the unity and uniformity they have.   Another strange thing is that Sri Ramanuja added that Kamadahana is celebrated here for the temple’s purification as per the Sishtachara traditions. Every temple barring one or two follow sishtachara tradions only irrespective of it’s being Siva or Vishnu Alaya. Bairava is neither the guardian of the Bhairava Dwaram nor worshipped as one. Bhairava is always the guard of Lord Siva. We can take the example of Varanasi. When this is the truth what argument, Srimad Ramanuja would have put forth to forefeet the arguments of the scholars at Simhachalam.  The only possibility is this. During his period the then kings were divided into two and while some patronized saivism, some Vaishnavism some patronized smarthism (they belive in whatever form he is, God is one.) Bhagavad Ramanuja would have approached the kings who worshiped him as there guru and got the work done.

Let us come to the next point. Varaha Narasimha’s idol, when covered with sandalwood paste, resembles a Shiva Lingam. Ramanuja took personal possession of the temple and ordered the priests to remove the paste.  The conversion work began and before completion, the idol started bleeding.  Feeling the deity’s anger for violating the rule, sandalwood paste was applied again which stopped the bloodstream.  They presumed that the deity wished to look like a Lingam and continued the tradition except for one day. If this is true what is it envisaging? Is it not advising us to trust in God who has no specific form and pure bhakti is the only important component for a Bhakta to realize God. This is nothing other than Advaita.

Sri Krishna Deva Raya after defeating the Gajapati Prataparudra Dev of Orissa, visited the shrine twice in 1516 AD and 1519 AD and offered numerous villages for maintenance of worship along with valuable jewelry of which an emerald necklace is still in the temple.

Shiva’s manifestation Tripurantaka is the kshetrapala (guardian deity) of Simhachalam. Tripurantaka and his consort have a temple dedicated to them which is located on the way to ganga-dhara. It is one of the oldest South Indian temples dedicated to this deity. Bhairava was believed to be much fierce than Narasimha. Notwithstanding whether the above statement is true or not, the guardian deity is identified with Bhairava, a fierce manifestation of Bhairava. Then how that Tripurantaka emerged as the kshetrapalaka?

Simhachalam temple resembles a fortress from outside with three outer courtyards and five gateways. The five gateways denote the five heads of Lord Siva. This fact cannot be scored out by any argument.

Near the entrance, the footprints of Hindu saint Chaitanya Mahaprabhu installed by Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati in the year 1930 can be seen. Once the shrine is converted people, top to bottom follow it with all fervor and cannot there be any difference of opinion.

In the Mukha mandapa (main hall), there is a pillar named Kappam Stambham (The Telugu word kappam means paying tribute in English) which is believed to have curative powers.  It is consecrated using the Santana Venugopala Yantra and is known to grant unfulfilled wishes especially for the couple craving for children.

The moolavirat of Varaha Narasimha is kept in a separate hall named Prahlada mandapa. The mandapa might have been named after conversion. In its original form, the idol of Varaha Narasimha is two and a half feet tall. The deity stands in a tribhanga posture with a boar’s head, a human torso and a lion’s tail.  About this I have explained at the bigining itself. On either side of the deity, the idols of Sridevi and Bhudevi holding lotus flowers are seen. Certainly these would be crafts created by the sculptor to add strength to the conversion. The sculpture of Varaha Narasimha has no ornaments and drapery carved on the body. The moolavirat is covered with sandalwood paste imported from Srivilliputhur, Tamil Nadu. Why Srivilliputhur? I could not find any specific reason except that it is the birth place of Periyalwar and Andal and hence the followers of Vaishnavism will be more where from the people of Simhachalam can acquire Vaishnavic knowledge from them sustaining unbroken communication. 

After application of the sandalwood paste, the moolavirat resembles a four feet tall Shiva Lingam.  There is enough space for the devotees to offer pradakshinas (circumambulations) to the deity inside the Prahlada mandapa. There are only four main ornaments used in the temple: a Thirunamam made of diamonds and rubies, a chain of emeralds, a 100-tola gold bracelet, and a golden crown.

Simhachalam temple found many literary references and lyrical works dedicated by anonymous writers; some of the latter are preserved in the Government Oriental Manuscripts Library, Chennai. The earliest known literary mention of the temple is found in Lakshmi Narasimhapurana written by Telugu poet Yerrapragada of 14^th century. A devotee by name Krishnamacharyulu wrote devotional vachanas (prose) in praise of Varaha Narasimha of Simhachalam. Krishnadevaraya mentioned his visit to Simhachalam in his epic poem Amuktamalyada. The king’s visit was also documented by poets Allasani Peddana and Dhurjati in Manucharitra and Krishnaraya Vijaya respectively. All the record is available after conversion of the Devalaya.

Chandanotsava (sandalwood festival), also known as Chandan Yatra, is the most important festival celebrated in the temple. It is celebrated on the festival day of Akshaya Tritiya (April – May) in accordance to the temple’s legend.  On this day, the Sandalwood paste, commonly referred to as Chandanam, covering the moolavirat throughout the year is removed on that day and as a result, devotees could see the original form of the deity’s idol for 12 hours once in the whole year. That is now being continued as a tradition.

Kamadahana is another significant festival which occurs on the full moon day in the month of Phalguna. It is considered as an auxiliary festival which not specified by ancient texts of the temple. Followers of Sri Vaishnavism consider Kamadahana as a self-purification ceremony. Kama dahanam is specific to Lord Siva. Madana Damana is the epithet he has. Moreover ‘Kama’ is the son of lord Vishnu.

The architecture of this temple is a mixture of the styles of the Kalinga, Chalukya and the Chola. The temple faces west instead of east, signifying victory.

Let us also touch a little of Sthapatya Sastra and know what it says. Simhachalam during the 11^th century was not part of Vishakhapatnam. Its name was Adavipuram. Even today the natives sustain the same name on their tongues.  As I heard, for this village the Alayam is to the north and the deity is facing south.

According to Alaya sthapatya sastra, the temple of Vishnu should face the village, while that of Narsimha should have its back to the village. The temple of Shiva should face outward, except if it is built in the east or west, in which case it should face the village. As for the temples of other god, they may face any direction. This itself confirms that the Deity of the Alayam is Lord Siva.

This is not the only Alayam maneuvered for conversion.  Even in Tirumala for Venkateswara also the same thing happened. No Vishnu Alaya deity will have Eshwara added to his name. More over Venkata is not a Sanskrit word whereas Eshwara is Sanskrit. As such there should not exist any ‘Sandhi’ in between these two words.

‘Venkata’ is a derivative of the Tamil word ‘Vengadam’. While ‘Vem’ is to sins ‘gadam’ is to cut. Hence Venkateswara means one who erases all our sins. Conversion of this temple also took place in 11^th century only. Prior to that The Idol was being worshipped as Siva for six months and Vishnu for six months. For this also, like in the case of Simhachalam the Kshetra Palaka is Lord Siva.

These are all past and we cannot and need not revive them for any sort of dispute for the reason, worshiping  in any form of God will ultimately reach him only says Advaita. Here, with all grief, one truth I will tell you. The Various types of Vaishnava Mathadhipatis who are called jiyyars, do not visit Lord Ganesha, whom Siva Purana, Linga Purana says to be the son Lord Siva, even if the Idol remains in the same precinct of Lord Venkateswara or any other Vaishnava  Alayas constructed nowadays  for communities. As Knowledgeable readers do you think their practice is correct?

However my intention of writing the article is to convey the message of harmony and integrity and not disharmony and dis-integrity. I also request my dear human society members not be carried away by the pompous God-men. Have trust in God of any form, worship him with total devotion, dedication and fervor and that helps you to be free from worries and gain solace.

Swasti.
The inspiration to write this article is the information provided in the Wikipedia on Simhachalam. From the core of my heart I acknowledge my dear friend (name anonymous) for helping to obtain certain information in the article.