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Mangalagiri means the auspicious hill. This place
is one of the eight important Mahakshetrams (sacred places) in
India. The eight places where Lord Vishnu manifested himself are:
1 Sri Rangam
2 Srimushnam
3 Naimisam
4 Pushkaram
5 Salagamadri
6 Thothadri
7 Narayanasramam
8 Venkatadri
Thothadri is the present Mangalagiri in Tamil Nadu.
Lakshmi Devi has done tapas on this hill. That's why it got this name
of Mangalagiri - the auspicious hill.
 There
are three Narasimha Swamy temples in Mangalagiri. One is Panakala
Narasimha Swamy on the hill. Another one is Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy at
the foot of the temple. The third one is Gandala Narasimha Swamy at
the top of the hill. Viewed from anywhere, the hill looks like an
elephant. There is an interesting legend to show how the mountain came
into existence.
Pariyatra, an ancient king, had a son called,
Hrasva Srungi who visited all sacred places to regain normal bodily
stature and finally visited this holy place of Mangalagiri and stayed
for three years performing penance. All the Devatas (Gods) advised him
to stay at Mangalagiri and continue to do penance in praise of Lord
Vishnu.
Pariaytra came with his retinue to take back his
son to his kingdom. But Hrasva Srungi took the shape of an elephant to
become the abode of Lord Vishnu who is locally known as Panakala
Lakshmi Narasimhaswamy.
The temple of Sri Panakala Lakshmi Narasimhaswamy
is situated on the hill. On the right side of the steps provided to
reach the temple, there is a stone inscription by Sri Krishnadevaraya
of Vijayanagar and a little further up, the footprints of Mahaprabhu
Chaitanya are to be seen. Midway on the steps there is a temple of
Lord Panakala Lakshmi Narasimhaswamy. There is only the face with the
mouth widely opened. A dhwajasthambham was erected in front of the
temple in 1955.
Behind the temple there is the temple of Sri
Lakshmi, to the west of which there is a tunnel which is believed to
lead to Vundavalli caves on the banks of the Krishna. The stone
inscription of the kings of Vijayanagar relate besides to the conquest
of Rayalu over Kondapalli etc., that Siddhiraju Thimmarajayya Devara
granted a total of 200 kunchams (10 kunchams make one acre) land in 28
villages of which Mangalagiri was one; and a gift of 40 kunchams by
Chinna Thirumalayya to Ramanujakutam. The steps to the temple were
constructed by Sri Channapragada Balaramadasu in 1890.
There was a cave next the Devi temple on the hill.
It is said that there is a way to Vundavalli from that cave, and the
sages used to go by that way to take bath in Krishna river. Now, the
cave is very dark, and the way cannot be seen.
Demon Namuchi
The Lord who has established himself on the hill is
in the form of Narasimha (man-lion) which form Lord Vishnu assumed to
kill Hiranyakasipu, the Rakshasa father of Prahlada, a great devotee.
He is also called Sudarsana Narasimha Swamy. The legend says that
Namuchi, a Rakshasa, after great penance, obtained a boon from Lord
Brahma that he would not be killed by anything that is either wet or
dry. He began to harass Indra and the Devatas. Encouraged and
supported by Lord Vishnu, Indra commenced destroying the army of
Namuchi, who hid in a cave in Sukshmakaram (small size) giving up
hissthulakaram (Physical manifestation). Indra dipped Sudarsanam, the
disc of Lord Vishnu in the foam of the ocean and sent it into the
cave. Lord Vishnu manifesting himself at the centre of the disc
destroyed the pranavayuvu (life breath) of the Rakshasa with the fire
of his exhalation. He thus got the name of Sudarsana Narasimha.
The blood that flowed from the body of the Rakshasa
seemed to have formed into a pool at the foot of the hill.
The Devatas themselves were unable to withstand the
fire of the anger of the Lord and they prayed for appeasement. The
Lord took amrutam (nectar) and cooled down. It was in Krithayugam. The
Lord said he would be satisfied with ghee in Threthayugam, with milk
in Dwaparayugam and with panakam (jaggery water) in Kaliyugam. Hence,
the Lord is called in Kaliyugam as Panakala Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy.
Story in Threthayugam
In Threthayugam, the second of the four yugas,
people who enjoyed heaven as a result of their good deeds in the world
are most unhappy to return to this world (when once the fruits of good
deeds are exhausted, the soul has to come back to the world). They
prayed to Indra, the Lord of the Heaven, to save them from the
impending fate. Indra advised them to spend their time in the world at
Mangalagiri to attain heaven again.
In Krithayugam, the first of the four yugas when
the sinners were few, Yamadharmaraja, the Lord of Hell, advised them
to wash off their sins by doing penance at Mangalagiri. Mangalagiri
has been in existence from the beginning of the Universe with the
names Anjanadri in Krithayugam, Thotadri in Threthayugam, Mangaladri
and Mukthyadri in Dwaparayugam and Mangalagiri in Kaliyugam affording
salvation to sinners also.
In Krithayugam, Vaikhanasa Maharshi worshipped the
Lord and his idol is worshipped even today in the temple.
It is also believed that Lord Rama, while departing
for Vaikuntam after completing his mission in that incarnation,
advised Anjaneya to stay at Mangalagiri and after obtaining his
blessings to remain in this world for ever. Anjaneya took his adobe at
Mangalagiri as Kshetrapalaka.
Panakala Narasimha Swamy - God who drinks panakam.
It is said that here, God is self-existent. In the temple, there will
be no statue of the god, but only a mouth, wide open to about 15 cm.
The mouth is covered by the metal face of the god. The temple is open
till afternoon only, with the belief that Devatas perform pujas at
night. The God takes jaggery water as offering by a conch. The jaggery
water is actually poured into the mouth of the Lord, a gurgling sound
is clearly audible as if the Lord is actually drinking it and the
sound becomes shriller and shriller. The sound stops after some time
and the balance of the jaggery water is thrown out.
This phenomenon happens not once a day but is a
recurring feature during the course of the day as and when devotees
offer panakam (jaggery water).
We can reach the temple through steps on foot and
also by road. The steps to the temple were constructed by Sri
Channapragada Balarama Dasu in 1890. In 2004, a ghat road had been
constructed through which the pilgrims can reach the temple easily.
Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy Temple
At the foot of the hill, there is another temple
whose origin is traced to the time of Yudhishtra, the eldest of the
Pandavas. Yudhishtra is said to be the founder of the chief image of
this temple and the deity here is called Sri Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy.
In Vijayawada, which is 8 miles from Mangalagiri, there is a hill
called Indrakeeladri in which Arjuna is said to have done tapascharya
(penance) in order to obtain the weapon Pasupata from Lord Siva. About
200 years ago Raja Vasireddy Venkatadri Naidu, who ruled from
Amaravati as his capital, constructed a stupendous gopuram (tower) on
the eastern gate of the Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy temple. It is one of
the highest gopurams in south India and the only one of its type in
this part of India.
The gopuram is 153 ft in height and 49 feet wide
with 11 storeys and gates facing east and west. This great and
imposing tower dwarfs the central shrine. The devoted patience of
thousands of skilled craftsmen and the labour of many more apprentices
which had gone into this great structure is a testimony to the
religious fervour which characterised the builder. After constructing
the gopuram, it was leaning towards one direction. The Kancheepuram
architects suggested that they dig a tank opposite the tower. After
digging the tank, it is said the tower became straight.
The image of the Lord in the form of Narasimha and
that of Lakshmi Devi to his left are of stone.
 The
garland of the Lord, with 108 saligramams, is of special significance
here. Dakshanavrutha Sankham, a special conch believed to be the one
that was used by Lord Krishna and presented by Maharaja Sarfoji of
Thanjavur, is one more possession of significance of the Lord. There
is also an ancient ratha (temple car) belonging to the temple with
ornamental wood carvings depicting the scenes from the great epics of
Bharata, Bhagavatha and Ramayana.
Thimmaraju Devaraju, a military chieftain of the
Vijayanagar rulers, improved this temple. He had constructed prakarams
(compound walls), mandapas, gopurams (towers), five images of Lord
Bhairava, a festival chariot, 10 varieties of courts for annual
ceremonies, flower gardens, lakes and tanks. He had also installed
utsava vigrahas in the temple (metal images intended for being taken
out in procession).
To the north of the temple, there is a temple of
Sri Rajyalakshmi to the south that of Rama with Sita and Lakshmana and
to the west, vahanasala (the store house for the vehicles of which the
golden garudavahanam, the silver Hanumanthavahanam and Ponnavahanam
are noteworthy).
The Lakshmi Narayana Temple and the Anjaneya
Mandiram in Pedda Bazaar are the other places of worship in the town.
Gandalayam
On the top of the hill, there is no deity to
worship. There is only facility to put a deepam. If one is going
through a bad patch, they go there and light a ghee deepam to dispel
the misery. That lamp is visible from many villages.
Festivals
Sri Panakala Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy brahmotsavam
is very important annual festival. It is believed that the celebration
was inaugurated by Dharmaraja at the behest of Lord Krishna. Pradyumna,
the son of Lord Krishna, reqested his father to celebrate his birthday
annually for a sapthaham (seven days) from Phalguna Suddha Sapthami.
Lord Krishna entrusted this work to Dharmaraja, the eldest of the
Pandavas who has the successor to the throne at Hastinapura. At
present, the festival is celebrated for 11 days commencing from
Phalguna Suddha Sashti (February - March)
One day before Phalguna Suddha Purnima i.e. on
Chaturdasi, the marriage of Santha Narasimha Swamy and Sridevi and
Bhoodevi is celebrated. They follow Agama sastra in this celebration.
Before the marriage, Chenchus celebrate on the
occassion of Narasimha Swamy marrying their daughter Chenchu Lakshmi.
That night, the Swamy comes by Sesha Vahanam to participate in Eduru
Kola. The day after the marriage is Purnima, on which day Holi
festival is celebrated by Indians.
The same day, here, people celebrate Tirunalla, and
about 1,00,000 people, local and from distant places, congregate. On a
big chariot, the Lord goes on a procession and hundreds of devotees
pull this car with fervour and enthusiasm.
Srirama Navami, Hanumajayanti, Narasimhajayanti,
Vaikunta Ekadasi and Mahasivarathri are other festivals celebrated on
a large scale. On Mahasivarathri, the Lord goes in procession on a
small chariot.
Ksheera vruksham (The milk tree)
Ksheera vruksham, on Mangalagiri hill, is of great
attraction, particularly to women. Legend says that king Sasibandi was
advised by Narada to visit pilgrimages. The king left the kingdom, and
his queen, and started visiting pilgrimages. The queen came to know
about this and became furious and cursed Narada to become a Ksheera
vruksham on the hill within the easy reach of devotees, blessing women
at its very sight, with property, children and washing off the sins
they committed out of ignorance or oversight, for having ill-advised
her husband to desert her and take to penance.
Narada took this not as a curse but as a boon as it
meant service to humanity. He blessed the queen with happy life with
her husband and a 1,000 children. The milk tree can be found even
today on the Mangalagiri hill. Throughout the year, thousands of women
visit and worship the tree for begetting children.
There is a legend connected with the making of the
procession idols of the temple. A respected goldsmith was appointed to
make the procession images of the Lord. In spite of all his skill and
care, the panchalohas (five metals), melted together in a huge
crucible and smeared over the images to form a brilliant coating, the
metals used to separate and this bitter disappointment continued day
after day.
The goldsmith began work one day after praying to
the Lord and heared a voice that success in his work required human
sacrifice. Just then his son rushed to him and requested the father
for water to quench his great thirst. He lifted his affectionate son
and threw him into the molten mixture of the five metals and the body
disappeared in no time. The amalgam was cast and beautiful icons of
the Lord were then completed.
After completing the work, the goldsmith thought
about his son and called out in agony, "Come, my son, and I will give
you water to quench your thirst." It is believed that the boy jumped
out of the image and stood before his father!
Gali gopuram
Thoorpu Gali gopuram (tower on east side) is the
main attraction at the Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy temple. Vijayanagara
kings constructed three storeys and Raja Vasireddy Venkatadri Naidu
constructed another eight storeys.
Raja Vasireddy constructed this from 1807 to 1809.
The height of this temple is 153 feet and width is 49 feet. It is very
rare to find towers which have less width, and more height like this
tower. Utthara Gali gopuram (tower on north side) is opened on
Vaikunta Ekadasi (Mukkoti) day. It was constructed by Rangapuram
zamindar Madapati Venkateswararao in 1911. When Padamati Gali gopuram
(tower on west side) was being constructed, accidentally some stones
fell down and some workers died. By this incident, the work was
stopped and has not re-started till now. Dhakshina Gali gopuram (tower
on south side) was renovated in 1992 for Krishna pushkaras by the
initiative of executive officer Sri Nootakki Kotaiah.
Tirupra Sundari (Tripura Mami)
Chennai,
Ph No: 2493 7791
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