Lakshmi Narasimhar Temple, Narasingapuram – The Temple
This
small beautiful temple is located in a peaceful location. This is an east
facing temple is with five tiered Rajagopuram and single prakaram. The temple
has two entrances, one in the south and the other in the east. The sub shrine
of Hanuman is found outside the temple facing the tower (western direction).
The speciality of this Anjaneya is his tail is twirled back on to his head. Presiding
deity is called as Lakshmi Narasimhar and is facing east. The Lord is said to
be Varaprasadi as it is believed that the Lord grants boon fulfilling the
devotees wishes.
The Lord
appears with four hands in a sitting posture with Mahalakshmi in the lap – both
of them in a smiling and embracing position. The
Perumal is huge and gigantic - and he is about 7 feet in height. Mahalakshmi
Thaayar and Lord Narasimha are seen embracing each other, referred to
as ’Paraspara Alinganam’, unlike in other Narasimha Kshetram where it is
just the Thaayar in the Alinganam posture. Hence, the Lord is referred to
as Kalyana Lakshmi Narasimhar.
Normally
the one with an angry exterior, Narasimha here is one with a smiling
face and is referred to as Shantha Moorthy. Another speciality at
this temple is the posture of Mahalakshmi, who is seen facing the
devotees. In typical Narasimha temples, Thaayar is seen pacifying and cooling
the angry Lord (Ugra Moorthy) and hence her face is turned towards the Lord.
Since the Lord is seen here as a ‘Shantha Swaroopi’, Thaayar has taken the
opportunity to turn her attention to the devotees and blesses them.
The
temple is considered to be a Prarthana Sthalam and is said to free the devotees
of Naga Dosham, diseases and bad debts. The flag post and bali peetha are
located facing the main shrine. The Garuda sub-shrine is located nearby. Garuda
is about four feet high and is seen here with 16 kinds of snakes around him.
Hence this is said to be a place for liberation from Naga Dosham. The idols of
Alwars, Ramanujar and Senai Mudali are located at the maha mandapam.
The
Utsava Mandapam in front of the Mahamandapam is full of pillars, with intricate
carvings. The Kalyana Mandapam, to the north of the main shrine in the outer
Prakaram, is a superb structure containing many fine sculptures. The different
incarnations of the Lord are found sculpted on the pillars. The ceiling of the
Mandapam also contains images of dancing women and musical instruments.
The sacred
kitchen which is known as “madapalli” in the regional language is meant for
preparing offerings to the lord. In order to prepare the Neivedhyam (offerings
to lord) in a clean and sacred way no one is let inside the kitchen
unnecessarily to maintain the sanctum of the place. But in Narasingapuram
Lakshmi Narasimha temple even the water is also not brought from outside as
there is a fully equipped well that is built within the madapalli to avoid
bringing water from outside the temple.
Mother
is called as Maragadavalli. There is a separate shrine for Goddess
Maragathavalli Thayar, whose idol is five feet high with four arms, just to the
right of the main shrine. The shrines of Andal, Rama-Lakshman-Sita, Desikar and
Chakkarathalwar are found in the prakaram. Another highlight of the temple is
that eight forms of Lakshmi called as Ashta Lakshmi are found in separate
sub-shrines.
