A Pilgrim's Trek To Ahobilam

Located in the highlands of the eastern ghats in Kurnool, Andhra Pradesh,&nbspAhobilam&nbspis an important pilgrimage site for Lord Narsimha, the lion-headed avatar of Lord Vishnu. It is known for the nine temples that are located within a radius of five kilometers.

Tales from the past

According to the Brahmanda Purana, this location formerly existed as the palace of the Asura king, Hiranyakasipu, who was killed by Sriman Narayana (a form of Narsimha) to rescue his devoted disciple, Prahlada. Time&rsquos whims caused the destruction of the building that once stood there, giving way to the mountain range that came to be known as Lord Narsimha's sacred land. Garuda is said to have prayed for the presence of Narsimha in the form of Avathara. His wish was fulfilled with the creation of nine forms of Narsimha across the ridge of Ahobilam. The temples were constructed in the traditional Dravidian style through the 15th and 16th centuries. The religious sites were then destroyed by the Mughals in 1578. Later in time, the temples were restored and have been expanded at various points up until today. With a distinct background of historic instances, Ahobilam currently represents distinct styles derived from each of these eras.

The realm of Narsimha

At about 400 kilometers northwest of Chennai,&nbsplocated in the Nallamala forest, Ahobilam is recognised as one of the 108 Divya Desams, aka, Vishnu Lakshami temples, mentioned in the works of the Tamil poet-saints, Alvars. Commonly referred to as Nava Narsimha Kshetra, meaning nineNarsinmha zones, Lord Narsimha is worshipped in nine different forms here, with a separate temple for each holy figure.

While the upper Ahobilam has the following four temples, &ndash Ahobila Narsimha, Kroda Narsimha, Malola Narsimha, and Jwala Narsimha, lower Ahobilam has these temples, &ndash Chatravata Narasimha, Bhargava Narasimha, Yogananda Narasimha, and Pavana Narasimha Swamy. The last one i.e., the Karanja Narsimha temple is situated between upper and lower Ahobilam.

While you can easily start your tour from lower Ahobilam, the path gets a little trickier as you move up forward. You will have to trek through the dense forest range to be able to visit the other sacred abodes.

Timings Lower Ahobilam is from 630am to 1pm and 3pm to 8pm. Upper Ahobilam opens from 7am to 1pm and 2pm to 7pm.

The temple's most auspicious religious event is Brahmoysavam which is held from February till March, when devotees get to worship Lord Narsimha and receive Sri Lakshminarsimhan's divine blessings.

Getting There

A road trip to Ahobilam makes for the perfect weekend getaway from places like Chennai.

There are also regular bus services in the town from nearby districts like Allagada (11 kilometers), Nandyal (60 kilometers), and Kurnool (134 kilometers). You can either choose to travel through these or rent a taxi or cab.

Nearest railhead Nandyal just at a distance of 45 kilometers

Nearest airport Bengaluru or Chennai.