Ahobilam

Ahobilam is a town and holy site in the Allagadda mandal of Kurnool district in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh.[1] It is surrounded by picturesque hills of the Eastern Ghats with several mountain hills and gorges. It is the centre of worship of Narasimha, the lion-headed avatar of Vishnu, to whom the nine Hindu temples and other shrines all dedicated. The main village and a temple complex are at Lower Ahobilam. Upper Ahobilam, about 8 kilometres to the east, has more temples in a steep gorge.[2]

Ahobilam
Town
Upper Ahobilam temple Gopuram
Ahobilam Location in Andhra Pradesh, India
Coordinates: 15.1333°N 78.7167°E / 15.1333; 78.7167
Country	India
State	Andhra Pradesh
District	Kurnool
Elevation	327 m (1,073 ft)
Population
• Total	3,732
Languages
• Official	Telugu
Time zone	UTC+5:30 (IST)
Vehicle registration	AP
Website	http://ahobilamtemple.com

Close up shot of Ugra stambham peak at Ahobilam, Nallamala Hills

The temple consists of nine shrines to Narasimha, located around a 5 km circle. In addition to the nine shrines, there is a temple for Prahaladavarada Varadhan in the foothills of the mountain. Due to security reasons and the difficulty in performing daily worship, many of the utsava vigrahas of the nine shrines are kept in this temple. To visit the entire group still involves some relatively arduous walking.

The main Narashima temples at each site were built or expanded by the emperors of Vijayanagara in the 15th and 16th centuries, then sacked by the Mughals in 1578, then restored and expanded at various times, up to the present day. As they stand, they are a mixture of work from all these periods.[3]

History

Ahobilam is traditionally regarded as the place where Vishnu in the form of Narasimha killed the Rakshasa Hiranyakashipu in order to save his devotee Prahlada. The legend says that Narasimha emerged from a rock pillar to slay the Rakshasha. The moment is represented in a number of murti in the various temples. Also, Garuda prayed for a vision of Narasimha in the form of Avathara, to fulfil his wish, and settled in nine forms across the hills in Ahobilam.

Geography

Ahobilam is located at 15.1333°N 78.7167°E / 15.1333; 78.7167.[4] It is located in Nallamala Forest, along the Eastern Ghats.[5]

Notes

"Book on Ahobilam temple released". The Hindu. Special Correspondent. 6 March 2019. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 17 May 2019.CS1 maint: others (link)
Michell, 330
Michell, 330
"redirect to /world/IN/02/Pedda_Ahobilam.html". fallingrain.com.
KUMAR, R. SANDEEP (9 September 2018). "Ahobilam: A journey into spirituality". Deccan Chronicle. Retrieved 17 May 2019.

References

Blurton, T. Richard, Hindu Art, 1994, British Museum Press, ISBN 0 7141 1442 1
Michell, George (1990), The Penguin Guide to the Monuments of India, Volume 1: Buddhist, Jain, Hindu, 1990, Penguin Books, ISBN 0140081445

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ahobilam.

Vishnu temples
Andhra Pradesh	Tirupati Ahobilam Annavaram Satyanarayana Temple Dwaraka Tirumala Simhachalam Mangalagiri Govindaraja Temple, Tirupati Kodandarama Temple, Tirupati Srinivasamangapuram Appalayagunta Varahaswamy Temple, Tirumala Vontimitta Narayanavanam Nagalapuram Karvetinagaram Keelapatla Srikurmam Srikakula Andhra Mahavishnu Temple Ranganatha Temple, Nellore Kodandarama Temple, Gollala Mamidada Narasimha Konda Penchalakona Bapatla Chintalarayaswami Temple Antarvedi Ramateertham Padmanabham Buchireddipalem Koulutla Chenna Kesava Temple Jammalamadugu Therani Anathavaram Venkateswara Swamy Temple
Bihar	Vishnupad Mandir
Gujarat	Dwarka
Karnataka	Shivanasamudra Srirangapatna Udupi
Kerala	Thiruvananthapuram Thirukatkarai Moozhikkalam Tiruvalla Thirukadithanam Sengunroor Thiruppuliyoor Thiruvaaranvilai Thiruvanvandoor Thiru naavaay Viththuvakkodu Guruvayur Ambalappuzha Tripunithura Thirunelli Varkala
Maharastra	Pandharpur
Nepal	Barahachhetra Bishnupaduka Muktinath / Saligramam (Nepal)
Orissa	Puri
Tamil Nadu	Thirumeyyam Thirukoshtiyur Koodal Azhagar Temple Azhagar Kovil Tirumogoor Srivilliputhur Tiruththangal Thiruppullani Tirukkacchi Ashtabujakaram Tiruvekkaa Tiruththanka Tiruvelukkai Tirukalvanoor Tiru oorakam Tiru neeragam Tiru kaaragam Tirukaarvaanam Tiru parameswara vinnagaram Tiru pavala vannam Tiru paadagam Tiru nilaaththingal thundam Thiruputkuzhi Thiruvallikeni Thiruneermalai Thiruvidandai Thirukadalmallai Thiruninravur Thiruvallur Thirukkadigai Thiruvazhunthoor Thiruindaloor Kazheesirama Vinnagaram Thirukkavalampadi Thiruchsemponsey Thiruarimeya Vinnagaram Thiru Vanpurushothamam Thiruvaikunda vinnagaram Thirumanimadam Thiruthevanartthogai Thiruthetriyambalam Thirumanikkoodam Thiruvellakkulam Thiruppaarththanpalli Thalai Sanga Nanmathiyam Thiruchsirupuliyur Thiruvali-Thirunagari Thiruccithra kootam Thirukkannangudi Thirunagai Thiru Thanjai Tirukkoilur Thirukkoodaloor Thiru Kavith Thalam Thiru Adhanoor Thirupullabhoothangudi Thirukkudandhai Thiruccherai Thirunandipura Vinnagaram ThiruNaraiyoor Thiruvinnagar Thiruvelliyangudi Thirukkanamangai Thirukkkannapuram Thirukkandiyur Srirangam Thirukkozhi Thirukkarambanoor Thiruvellarai Thiru Anbil Thirupper Nagar Thiruvanthipuram Thiruvaramangai Thirukkurungudi Srivaikundam Thiruvaragunamangai Thiruppulingudi Thirukkurugoor Thirutthulaivillimangalam Thirukkoloor Thirukkulandhai Thentirupperai Thiruvattaru Thiruvanparisaram Gunaseelam
Telangana	Bhadrachalam Yadadri Kuchadri Birla Mandir, Hyderabad
Uttar Pradesh	Naimisaranya Mathura Gokul Ayodhya
Uttarakhand	Devprayag Thiruppirithi Badrinath Vishnuprayag Panch Prayag
Vinnulagam (Outside the Earthly realm)	Thirupaarkadal Thiruparamapadham
Other	Pancharanga Kshetrams

Hindu temples in Andhra Pradesh
Anantapur	Veerabhadra Temple, Lepakshi Chintala Venkataramana Temple Bugga Ramalingeswara Temple
Chittoor	Tirumala Venkateswara Temple Srikalahasteeswara Temple Kanipakam Vinayaka Temple Padmavathi Temple Alipiri padala mandapam Govindaraja Temple, Tirupati Kapileswara Temple, Kapilatheertham Kodandarama Temple, Tirupati Kalyana Venkateswara Temple, Srinivasamangapuram Vakula matha Temple, Perur Surya Narayana Temple, Tiruchanur Prasanna Venkateswara Temple, Appalayagunta Kalyana Venkateswara Temple, Narayanavanam Vedanarayana Temple, Nagalapuram Ardhagiri Temple Boiyakonda Gangamma Temple Konetirayala Temple, Keelapatla Pallikondeswara Temple, Surutapalli Kulandeswara Temple Varahaswamy Temple, Tirumala Venugopalaswamy Temple, Karvetinagaram
East Godavari	Annavaram Satyanarayana Temple Kumararama Draksharama Lakshmi Narasimha Temple, Antarvedi Biccavolu Talupulamma Lova Suryanarayana Temple, Gollala Mamidada Kodandarama Temple, Gollala Mamidada Kukkuteswara Temple Sripada Srivallabha Temple
Guntur	Amaralingeswara Temple Kotappakonda Lakshmi Narasimha Temple Anathavaram Venkateswara Swamy Temple
Kadapa	Kodandarama Temple, Vontimitta Pushpagiri Temple Complex Gandi Anjaneya Temple Narapura Venkateswara Temple, Jammalamadugu
Krishna	Jaladheeswara Temple Kanaka Durga Temple Paritala Anjaneya Temple Andhra Maha Vishnu Sri Peddintlamma Temple
Kurnool	Yaganti Bhramaramba Mallikarjuna Temple Kambagiri Koulutla Chenna Kesava Temple Sangameswara Temple Mantralayam
Nellore	Ranganatha Temple, Nellore Kodandarama Temple, Buchireddipalem Penchalakona
Prakasam	Gangamma Temple, Dhenuvakonda Tripurantakam
Srikakulam	Arasavalli Sun Temple Kurmanathaswamy temple Ranganatha Temple Mukhalingam
Visakhapatnam	Balighattam ISKCON Temple Visakhapatnam Nookambika Temple Padmanabham Simhachalam Temple Someswara Swamy Temple Sri Kanaka Maha Lakshmi Temple Sri Sampath Vinayagar Temple Panchadharla
Vizianagaram	Ramanarayanam Ramatheertham Punyagiri
West Godavari	Ksheerarama Somarama Kotasattemma Temple Veerabhadra Temple Venkateswara Temple, Dwaraka Tirumala

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