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At home in verdant setting
The thick forests of Andhra Pradesh seem to be the natural abode
of the Lion-God Narasimha. MAYA NARASIMHAN writes about the five
manifestations.

EACH REGION of India has a special place for its own God.
Although temples abound for all deities of the Hindu pantheon
everywhere in the country, a regional inclination is clearly
visible. Thus we have the adoration for Krishna in Uttar Pradesh,
the affection of Maharashtra for Ganesha, the reverence for
Hanuman in Karnataka, the love of the Tamils for the "Tamil God"
Muruga.

The presence of large tracts of forest and hills uninhabited for
the most part, areas where lions would have freely roamed once,
may be the reason why Andhra Pradesh seems to have evolved a
distinct worship of Vishnu's fourth avatar, Narasimha. The
paradox, a raw ferociousness suffused with an imponderable
gentleness, is perhaps, what draws one again and again to the
shrines of Narasimha.

It is not too long after our inspiring visit to Ahobilam that we
decide to visit the temples of Narasimha near Vijayawada. As we
thunder over the last bridge to the city 350 km from Chennai,
water-starved souls that we are, we drink in with our every nerve
the serene overflow of the river Krishna. Truly blessed are those
who live on the banks of a river!

Our programme for the first day is Mattapalli, a temple to
Narasimha, on the banks of the Krishna, 150 km from Vijayawada.
Mattapalli, not very well-known some years ago, was made popular
by the late Sri Mukkur Lakshminarasimhachariar, who unfailingly
spoke about the Lord in all his discourses, and as those who had
attended his discourses say, the Lord, too, spoke through him.

Past Huzur Nagar, where we pass through a pleasant enough
marketplace, lively with fruits and fresh vegetables and people,
the road turns into a driver's nightmare. It is only another 25
km. and after all, are we not veterans after driving through the
Chennai roads?

At least there is no traffic on this road, in fact, there is
nothing around and beyond, too, it seems. "Where are the
villages? Where are the ubiquitous people of our land?" , we
muse. All we see around us is shrub vegetation, occasional fields
lying fallow, and the tall chimneystacks of cement factories
pushing their noses up through the greenery.

We have a sense of going into the unknown. Our driver seems
knowledgeable enough, if anything, a little too cocky for
comfort. Sure enough, we are soon at the end of the road and at
our destination. A picture to be found anywhere in India - a
peepul, a gopuram and a few shops scattered around.

As we cross into the temple, we see the Krishna on our left. Like
many a Narasimha temple, the one in Mattapalli is a cave. We file
through a short narrow passage and face the God immediately. A
bas-relief, the silver kavacham, displays a fierce lion form with
tribal overtones, moustache and all. On the wall, next to the
main deity is his consort Rajalakshmi. On her right can be seen a
passage in the rock face, leading out, now blocked. This is the
way to the river, through which the sage Bharadwaja is believed
to have come every day to worship the deity. "A few years ago,
the river in spate came in through here and engulfed the Lord,"
says the priest. "We have photographs."

The auspicious rituals are conducted and the priest continues
with his story: "As you can see, this is a remote place. The Lord
was worshipped only by the rishis and the devas. He then,
appeared to a local, Masi Reddy, in a dream, told him the
location of his abode which could be identified by the tree "the
vedapatri," and instructed him to open up the cave so that human
beings could also worship him.

``Masi Reddy could not find the tree at first. In his second
attempt he saw a refulgent bird seated on it, and a monkey led
him to the exact place in the face of the mountain that needed to
be opened up.'' The temple closes at 12.30 p.m. and opens briefly
before 1.30 p.m. for a final aarthi and distribution of prasadam.
Suddenly, there are around 30 to 40 people there. The temple does
not open in the evenings for they are held sacred for worship by
the rishis.

We learn of other Narasimha shrines nearby. Mattapalli is
actually the centre and in all four directions, there are other
temples - Vedadri, Vadapally, Vethapuram and Mangalagiri - the
pancha Narasimha kshetras.

Vedadri is only a short detour of 10 km on the way back to
Vijayawada. A conventional temple, the deity has its own charm.
The utsava idols are extraordinarily high and impressive. The
dwajasthamba is of imposing girth and height. A rock , which is
actually a Narasimha in shalagrama form, can be seen in the
waters of the rivers.

Mangalagiri: Devotees know the place as the abode of Panaga
Narasimha, seated on a hill, the deity for whom panagam - the
jaggery beverage usually made for Sri Rama Navami and Narasimha
Jayanthi - is the preferred offering.

It is early morning. As we ascend the shallow steps, 350 in
number, the suburb of Mangalagiri, 10 km outside Vijayawada,
reclines in soft monsoon green. Wherever we turn, the green rests
our eye and the Cambodia like spire of the temple in the town
seems to follow us on our climb.

This, too, is a cave temple. Hardly four can stand near the
deity, that is enveloped in darkness for the most part, the
single lamp suggesting rather than enlightening. All of us have
opted for the jaggery panagam (Rs. 60) as against the kalkandu
panagam (Rs. 40). The priest pours half of the panagam into the
mouth of the deity. The deity does not accept more than half of
what is offered.

Our rational minds quickly find an explanation for the happening.
What is far more interesting is to see the deity without his
silver armour. Here is no idol nor even a bas-relief. All we see
is a ragged aperture in the cave face, and on either side are
seen the ammonite- like whorls of the discus and the conch. Are
these natural, or have they been carved in the remote past by
some devotee - a tribal, a chieftain, a king?

Strange, Primordial. Our questions no longer have any relevance.
Reason has no standing before faith.

We have a glass each of the other half of the panagam that is
returned to us, to take home, if we so wish. "Though the outside
teems with ants and flies, none can be seen where the offering is
prepared," says our guide. That is an undeniable fact.

Another thirty steps take us up to the back of the cave where a
charmingly animated Ranganatha with folklore features reclines.
Another few steps and we are with Rajalakshmi, Consort of the
Lord.

A certain commercialism hovers in the air - panagam Rs. 60 or Rs.
40 archana Rs. 10, darshan of the Lord without the kavacham Rs.
5. Yet, there would have been no rancour even if we had declined
all the methods of pleasing the Lord.

With a last photograph of the gentle Garuda underneath the
dwajasthamba itself, of pleasingly ancient and weathered wood, we
wend our way to the temple of Sri Lakshminarasimha at the foot of
the hill.

Several gopurams including the Angkor Wat-like one punctuate this
traditional structure of Vijayanagar patronage. The sanctum is
minimalist in tone and tenor, a refreshing change from
garbagrihas in most temples. The Lord is supposedly ugra, angry
and violent, yet it is a sense of shanti that one gains from him,
perhaps because of Lakshmi seated on His lap, and who, unlike in
other representations, looks not towards the devotees but towards
the Lord in order to pacify Him.

The elderly priest performs the archana with sincere devotion.
With genuine interest, he shows us the fabulous collection of
shalagramas, indicating the individual markings that
differentiate the Matsya from the Varaha, the Varaha from the
Narasimha and all from the Anantha and Krishna. The temple also
possesses a great valampuri shankhu, the second largest in India.

The idols of the Azhwars in the prakaram outside also possess
special aesthetics, particularly Thirumangaiazhwar and Andal. The
Bhattar follows to point out to us the original painting of the
deity by Ravi Varma. Apparently the artist king had visited the
temple in 1890. and had been so enamoured of the deity that he
had immediately taken up his oils to enshrine his vision.

Lakshmi as Rajyalakshmi blesses devotees from Her own sanctum. As
it was the auspicious Friday in the month of Adi, a group of
women had brought what seemed to be 1,008 lotuses to decorate the
Mother. In this small secondary shrine, beauty, peace and faith
emanate from the gentle face of the Goddess.

In this temple, more than anywhere else, the divine couple seems
to be united in their purpose to help confused mortals cross this
life, whose meaning escapes grasp, to the shore of understanding
where all questions are answered.

* * *

Mattapalli-Vedadri-Mangalagiri (Two-day trip)Railhead: Vijayawada
- 350 km from Chennai accessible by Tamil Nadu Express/Coromandel
Express. Tamil Nadu Express reaches by 5 a.m. Mattapalli: 150 km
on the Vijayawada-Hyderabad National Highway, 25 km from Huzur
Nagar. Vedadri: 10 km from Kodada (Jayantipuram Cement Factory
signboard on the highway) Mangalagiri: 10 km outside Vijayawada
on the Vijayawada-Chennai National Highway, also a weaving
centre.

__._,_.___

Oppiliappan Koil Varadachari Sadagopan
http://www.sadagopan.org




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