Facts to File
 How
far : 707 km from Hyderabad.
How to go :
Air : Nearest airport is
Visakhapatnam at a distance of 16 km.
Rail : The nearest railhead
is Visakhapatnam.
Bus : Easily accessible from
Visakhapatnam.
Where to stay : Temple cottages and dormitaries.
Hotels
What to see : Simhachalam
temple.
 Simhachalam, near
Visakhapatnam is one of the most important Vaishnavite shrines of
South India. 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. He
gives "nijaroopa darshan" (holy appearance in true form) for only 12
hours in a year and on all the remaining 364 days and 12 hours, the
Lord is covered with sandalwood paste. The darshan described as
chandana yatra or chandanotsavam which falls every year in Vaisakha
masa commences on May 9 this year.
The deity at
Simhachalam, the lion-man incarnation of Lord Mahavishnu appears
like a Sivalinga when 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.
The
Simhachalam temple faces the West unlike so many others which face
the East. An east-facing entrance, according to religious belief,
brings prosperity while the west - facing one brings
victory.
LEGEND
The local people
believe that an ancient image of Sivalinga was converted into
Varahanarasimha form (the present idol of the temple) by Ramanuja,
the founder of the Visistadhvaitham of Hinduism. It signifies the
celebration of Kamadahana (burning of the god of Love) festival. The
origins of the temple are shrouded in mystery.
An
inscription dated as far back as 1908 AD of the Chola king
Kuloththunga is testimony of its existence. Another inscription
shows a queen of the Velavadu chief Gonga (1137-56 AD) covering the
image with gold while the third inscription says the eastern Ganga
King Narasimha built the central shrine in 1267 A.D.With more than
252 inscriptions describring the antecedents of the temple, it is
historically important.
Sri
Krishna Devaraya 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 are the
temple's trustees.
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