Sri Panakala Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy Temple - Mangalagiri
Sri Panakala
Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy Temple is located in Mangalagiri in the Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh State.
It is one of
the eight Mahakshetras of Lord Narasimha Swamy in India.
It is one of the temples
in a series of three temples located on and at the bottom of the hill, the
other two being Panakala Narasimha Temple on the hill and Gandala
Narasimha Temple at the top of the hill.
Panakala
Narasimha Swamy Temple is the presiding deity of this temple. Here Lord is an
incarnation of Lord Vishnu and here idol is said to be Swambhu. The idol is
covered by a metal face and only the mouth is visible & it's widely opened. God takes jaggery water (Panakam) as an offering. The water is poured into the
mouth, only half of the water is consumed and the remaining is thrown out.
It is said
that during Krutayuga Honey was offered, Ghee in Dwaparayuga, Milk in Tretayuga
and Panakam or Jaggery water in this Kaliyuga.
On the hill is where Sri Panakala
Lakshmi Narasimhaswamy's temple is located. There is a stone inscription by Sri
Krishna deva Raya of Vijayanagar on the right side of the steps (given to
access the temple), and a little further up, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's foot prints
can be observed. A shrine dedicated to Lord Panakala Lakshmi Narasimhaswamy can
be seen halfway up the stairs. There is only the mouth wide open on the face.
In 1955, a Dhwajasthambham was built in front of the temple.
At the foot of the hill, there
is another temple whose origin is traced to the time of Yudhishtira, the eldest
of the Pandavas. Yudhishtira 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 itself, which is 8 miles from Mangalagiri there is a hill called
Indrakeeladri in which Arjuna is said to have done tapascharya (penance) to obtain the weapon Pasupata from Lord Siva. About 200 years back 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. It is one of the highest gopurams in South India and the only one of its
type in this part of India. It is 153 feet 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 characterized the builder. After
constructing the gopuram, it was leaning towards one direction. The
Kancheepuram Architects suggested digging a tank opposite the tower. After
digging the tank, it is said that the tower became straight.
As per the Legends, An ancient
king Pariyatra had a son by the name of Hrusva Sringi who was born with deformities.
Hrusva Sringi to get out of these bodily deformities went on a pilgrimage and
finally reached Mangalagiri Hill and started staying there. He performed strict
penance for Lord Narasimha for three years. Knowing this his father
Pariyatra was unhappy and thought of bringing him back home. Pariyatra reached
Mangalagiri and try to dissuade his son’s penance. Hrusva Sringi who was not
convinced by his father’s words assumed the shape of an elephant and became
the mountain Mangalagiri so that his body might serve the Lord as a holy
abode. Later Lord Narasimha an incarnation of Lord Vishnu killed the demon
Namuchi with his disc and self-manifested here
07-00 to 07-30 Morning Archana
07-30 to 01-00 Special Archana for the devotees and offering Panakam
01-00 Maharnivedana
03-00 Closing the doors.
Morning 05-00 Opening the doors
05-30 Offering the Theertham
06-00 Morning Archana
07-30 Ghoshti (Using the theertham offering)
07-30 to 11-00 Special Archana for the devotees
11-30 Maharnivedana
12-30 Closing the doors
Evening 04-00 Opening the doors
04-00 to 07-00 Special Archana for the devotees
07-30 Evening Archana, Harathi, Theertha Ghoshti
08-30 Closing the doors.
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