LEGEND
According to legends it is believed that when the Devas saw the manifestation of Lord Vishnu as half-lion, half-man, they shouted “Ahobala” (great strength) as well as “Ahobila” (great cave in which the current sanctum is). Hence, this place could be called either “Ahobalam” or “Ahobilam”. The mention of this place is present in Brahmanda Purana. The place where Lord Narayana appeared from the stone pillar to kill Hiranyakashipa can be seen in this place. The name of this pillar is Ugra Sthambha, which is now referred as “Ukku SThambha” in Telugu, which incorrectly translates to iron pillar.
Aho is an exclamation word. Bhalam (bhalam means energy). It is equivalent of ‘oh the mighty energy’ and thus aho-bhalam of lord Narasimha swamy.
One famous slokam that explains this is:
Aho veeryam! aho shouryam! aho baahu parakrama!
Naarasimham param deivam aho bhilam! aho balam!
Meaning: Oh! what a great valour he has! oh his great gallantry! oh those great powerful shoulders of the greatest of the Gods Lord Narasimha, and what a mighty cave it is! and what a mighty divine strength He has!
Altogether, there are nine temples in the vicinity of 5kms depicting nine different forms of the Lord such as Jwala Narasimha, Ahobila Narasimha, Malola Narasimha, Kroda Narasimha, Kaaranja Narasimha, Bhargava Narasimha, Yogananda Narasimha, Chathravata Narasimha and Paavana Narasimha.
Sthala Puranam
The Lord Narasimha is a Vara prasaddhi (One who bestows blessings readily). Hiranyakasyapa(son of Sage Kashyapa) asked for specific boons to ensure his immortality and attained demonic powers due to these boons. Lord Vishnu took form as Lord Narasimha (a complex form of half-man and half-lion) to destroy the demon. Ahobilam is the exact location of the demon Hiranyakashupu’s palace, which the epic stories of Lord Narasimha speak of.
This place still has remnants, relics and ruins of the demon’s palace. The pillar from which the God arose is marked by its base stone and can be accessed after an almost vertical climb up the hill. It is believed that the entire mountain split up into two, due to the impact of pillar getting shattered by God and God rising from it subsequently.
The pillar’s base stone is thus, on the edge of the cliff. In between the 2 hills is a deep gorge like a cleft. Lower Ahobilam temple deity is said be installed by Tirumala lord Venkateswara himself before his wedding, since the lord of upper Ahobilam has a Ugra (angry) form. There are several Narsimha temples in the surrounding hills like Pamuleti Narasimhaswamy, which are popular among local populations.
Lord Narasimha appears in different forms as Ugra Murthi(aggressive form), Shanta Murthy (tranquil form), Yoga Murthy (in penance) and Kalyana Murthy with his consort Sri Chenchu Lakshmi.
According to the puranas, this is the very spot where Narasimha blessed Prahlada and killed the demon Hiranyakashipu.
CHENCHU LAKSHMI OR MAHA LAKSHMI
After slaying Hiranyakashyapa, Lord Narasimha proceeded to the Nallamala forest in his UgraAvataram (aggressive form). The devas were worried about this form and prayed to Goddess Lakshmi to pacify him. She took form as Chenchu Lakshmi, a tribal girl, in the same forest. On seeing her, Lord Narasimha asked her to marry him. She put him through a lot of tests completely before agreeing to marry him.
DIGUVA AND EGUVA (LOWER AND UPPER AHOBILAS)
In the lower Ahobila Lakshmi Narasimha Swami is in a peaceful form. The temple has exquisite stone art. The history of Ahobila temple is sculptured in the stone form. Lord Srinivasa himself is said to installed the main deity here. He is said to have sought the blessings of Narasimha before his wedding but finding the Narasihma in fierce form in Upper Ahobila, he is said to have installed the peaceful form in the lower Ahobila.
The temple complex also had temples for Adivan Sathagopulu. The sculptures of coronation of Lord Srirama (Sreerama Pattabhishekha), the ten incarnation of Lord Vishnu (Dasavatharas), statues of Poet Annamacharya are present on the walls of the temple. Annamacharya is said to have spent some time here composing songs praising the Lord Narasimha.
The great sage Lord Pothuluri Veerabrahmendra Swamy is said to have meditated here to write Kalagnana (the knowledge of the future) which set forth a spiruitual movement. It is a common practice to worship the Prahlada Varada Narasimha (the Narasimha who gave boons to Prahlada) in lower Ahobilam before worshipping Eguva (Upper) Ahobila Narasimha, who is present eight kilometers away on a hilltop inside a cave.
After worshipping the Lord, it is another practice to visit Navanarasimhas (nine Narasimhas). The legend says Lord Narasimha, after slaying Hiranyakasipa was roaming around the forest hills of Ahobilam making fearsome laughs and settling at nine places to bless the devotees. Here are the Nava Narasimha temples. Another legend describes when Lord Garuda did penance to see Lord Vishnu in Lord Narasimha form. Thereafter, LordNarasimha took nine different forms in this hill.
Lord Rama, while searching for Seetha, was stated to have worshipped Lord Narasimha here with His Panchamrita Stotram. Lord Balaji offered Nivedyam to Lord Narasimha, during His wedding to Padmavathi Thayar at Tirumala Hills. Lord Shiva praised Lord Narasimha as ‘Supreme God’ in His Mantrarajapada Stotram. Rudra has a small shrine adjacent to Sri Ahobila Narasimha sannidhi. Garuda did Tapas here and the Lord appeared before him.
Navagrahas have worshipped the Nava Narasimha Moorthies at Ahobilam. They were relieved of their problems from Asuras, and from the curses they received from Maharishis. It is believed that Chandra (Moon) took to the worship of Sri Karanja Narasimha, Mars to Jwala Narasimha and so on. Adi Sankara was protected from danger to his life and he glorified the Lord Narasimha by his famous Karavalamba Stotram. Thirumangai Alwar had sung in praise of Lord Narasimha with ten Pasurams. Acharya Ramanuja and Swami Desika worshipped the Lord here.
Pilgrims who visit Ahobilam are blessed with immense benefits. Stage Narada averred that whoever stays one night in Ahobilam derives the same benefit that accrues to an individual staying in Kasi for a thousand yugas, in Prayag for twenty yugas and in Gaya for a hundred yugas!
LOWER AHOBILAM TEMPLE GOPURAM
There are nine temples around the Nallamala Forest range, and in terms of sculpture and architecture all these nine temples stands to be an ultimate testament for the ancient sthapathis in planning and sculpting these temples. A few temples can be reached through trekking. Some temples are inside the cave. Some temples are very difficult to trek to. The nine planets that define the human fates are believed to have worshipped these nine Lord Narasimhas to get relief from Rakshashas (demons) and curses of sages for their actions.
This is main theme of the work of the great Telugu poet Errana, the “Nrisimha Puranam”. The hereditary powers of the temple rest with the Pontiff HH Azhagiyasingar of Ahobila Mutt. Currently the 45th Jeeyar of this lineage is the reigning Pontiff. Occasionally when HH Jeeyar performs Mangalasasanam (pays respects at the temple) at Ahobilam, the Serthi Utsavam is performed (the Moolavar of Malola Nrusimhar and the Utsavar) are united.
The Nallamala hills are personified as Adisesha with his head at Tirumala, middle at Ahobilam and the tail at Srisailam.