Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy Temple, Polur, Thiruvannamalai
Lakshmi
Narasimha Swamy Temple is located at the top of Sampathgiri Hill in Polur
Town in Thiruvannamalai District of Tamilnadu. This hill temple was
historically referred as Sampathgiri. Sampathgiri in Sanskrit means
"Mountain of Wealth". The same term was referred in Tamil as
"Porulur" literally translating to Poruloor (Place of
Wealth), now referred as Polur. From the top of the hill, one can have a clear
view of the Thiruvannamalai
Arunachala Hill and a small hill
named Kunnathur Hill located on the
outskirts of Polur.
Legends
Swyambhu Narasimha Idol:
As per
the legend, a group of workers were breaking down stones on a hill called
Sampathgiri in Polur village in Thiruvannamalai District of Tamilnadu. Workers
were busy doing their job. One of the worker’s spear hit a rock, and for everyone’s
shock it started bleeding. They were frightened and left for the day.
One the same night, Lord Narasimhar showed in one of the devotees dream. Lord
Narasimhar said that he has come one his own to Sampathgiri as Shantha Moorthy.
Next
day, the devotee informed this to the villagers. All villagers came to see the
idol. They were all shocked to see the lord bleed. All the villagers came
together and built a Maha Mandapam for the lord Narasimhar.
They worshiped the lord with great bhakti and shraddha. A temple was
built atop of the hill for lord Narasimhar. Later people installed Lakshmi -
the consort of Lord Narasimhar.
Story of Kolasthiyar Rishi and Pulasthiyar Rishi:
Lord
Narasimhar invited two brothers namely Kolasthiyar Rishi and Pulasthiyar Rishi
to this temple. These two rishis were ardent devotees of Lord Narasimhar. These
two sages did penance to lord Narasimhar and the lord was impressed by their
devotions. Impressed by their bhakti, lord gave them a mango. A fight broke up
between the two brothers as who would take the mango. In the spur of the
moment, Pulasthiyar rishi chopped his younger brother Kolasthiyar’s hands. Even
after losing both hands Sage Kolasthiyar continued to worship the lord with
great devotion. He took bath at ''Cheyyar'' (3 Kms from Polur) for 48 days
(i.e. 3 Mandalams) and circled the Sampathgiri.
After 48th
day, Kolasthiyar's hands reappeared magically. This not only surprised the
sage, but also others present. It was Lord's plan that Utsavamurthy should be
installed by Kolasthiyar rishi. Lord came in Kolasthiyar rishi’s dream and gave
direction as where the uthsava Moorthy was. It was in a place called Karapoondi
in Cheyyar. The sage went to look for the Utsavamurthy with the direction given
by the lord. He found the uthsava Murthy and established a temple i.e. down the
hill.
Vijayanagara King built Steps to Hill Temple:
Later, a
king from Vijayanagara dynasty expanded the temple. The king built a temple for
Venugopala Swamy and his consorts Rukmini and Sathyabhama. They also carved 840
steps on the rocks for the devotees to reach the Lord Lakshmi Narasimhar
temple. Even today the devotees use these steps.
Temple Bell:
Some 160
- 180 years back lord again appeared in one of the devotees dream and said that
he needs bells for the temples. The devotee, Srinivasa Rao later bought bells
for the temples. Even today, one can find this big, majestic bell at both
temples and can also see the painting of Srinivasa Rao on the wall.
The
Temple
The hill
is called Sampathgiri and the main deity is the Swayambu Sri Lakshmi Narasimha
Swamy facing south towards Thiruvannamalai along with Kanagavalli Thayar. There
is a cave here called ''Annai Guha''. Achutha Thasar, Hari Das, Sri Gnanananda
Swamigal and Siddhar Vittoba had meditated in caves here. There are two water
streams (sunais) are present in the Hill. One in the top of the hill called
Brahma Theertham and the other at the bottom called Pulasthiyar Theertham. There
is an Anjaneyar shrine at the base of the hill and there are 840 steps to climb
to reach this hill temple.
There
are two vultures that fly around the hill and people believe that they are the
two brothers Kolasthiyar and Pulasthiyar. The hill which is opposite to
Sampathgiri is called Sapthagiri and it is believed that the 7 sages still
reside in this mountain. This temple is completely built by devotees after lord
showed up in their dreams. This place is very powerful and all the prayers are
answered in no time. The temple festival is celebrated according to Kamakshi
temple of Kanchi.
Temple
Opening Time
The
temple is currently served by a single priest called Sekhar Bhattachariar who
also looks after a small Perumal temple below. He goes atop the hill at 4:30 AM
and returns back by 8:30 AM. A Chowkidar remains on the hillock opening the
temple for visitors who come later. The priest also visits the hill atop temple
in the evenings.
Contact
Sri Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy Temple,
Polur – 606803,
Thiruvannamalai District
Mobile: +91 98423
07594 / 94430 98358
Connectivity
This
temple is located at Polur. Polur is situated on the state highway between
Thiruvannamalai and Vellore district. It is about 33 Kms from the former and 48
Kms from the latter and 55 Kms from Vandavasi. Nearest Railway is Polur Railway
Station, located on the Vellore – Thiruvannamalai rail route. Nearest Airport
is located at Chennai.
