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Dear friends,
There is a beautiful Temple for Sri. Lakshmi Narasimhar near Hyderabad at a place called Yadagirigutta. The Chief Minister of Telangana is very keen on developing this shrine on par with Tirupathi.
Let us know something about this temple
Varadarajan
SRI LAKSHMINARSIMHASWAMY TEMPLE, YADAGIRIGUTTA
Sri Lakshminarasimha Swamy Temple or Yadagirigutta is a popular Hindu Temple devoted to Lord Narasimha Swamy, an incarnation of Lord Vishnu. It is situated over a hillock in the Nalgonda district, Telangana at a distance of 6 km from Raigir Railway station, 13 km from Bhongir and around 60 kilometers from the capital city of Hyderabad.
Yadagirigutta is a unique and pleasant hillock that enjoys moderate climate in all seasons. The place witnesses a heavy rush of devotees, not less than 5000-8000 pilgrims on average each day for offering their vows, performing pujas, kalyanam, abhishekam etc. while the crowd grows substantially during weekends, holidays and festivals.
The temple town has facilities for accommodation of pilgrims while many tonsure their heads after fulfillment of a wish. The town is well connected by a ghat road to the capital and nearby key towns. There are many restaurants here for the sake of devotees while the devasthanam board continues to make other amenities available for the public including special darshan, kalyanam, providing prasadams etc. The temple is highly revered in the Telangana region.
Temple legend
According to Skanda Purana, Yada Maharishi son of venerated Maharshi Rishyasringa performed penance here to Lord Vishnu as Narasimha. Being pleased with his penance lord appeared before him and manifested himself in five forms: Jwaalaa Narasimha, Gandabheranda Narasimha, Yogananda Narasimha, Ugra Narasimha and Lakshmi Narasimha .Yada Maharishi begged Narasimha to remain on the hill in these forms. For this reason, the Lakshmi-Narasimhadeva temple on the hilltop has deities of Narasimha in all five forms embedded in stone in the main cave. Historically, the temple has followed the Thenkalai tradition of the Vaishnava Agama Shastras as followed in South India.
Deities in the temple
The temple is in a cave about 12 feet high by 30 feet long, located in back of the temple hall, by the rear pillar. You take a stairway down into the chamber and then toward the back. Jwala Narasimha is in the shape of serpent, while Yogananda Narasimha appears sitting in meditation in yoga pose. You will also see silver deities of Lakshmi-Narasimha, which are quite striking in appearance and lends presence of seeing them. To the right of the temple main door is a Hanuman temple. You'll see a long horizontal gap in the rock just below Hanuman. This is said to be where Gandabheranda Narasimha manifested. This is a very popular temple. It is said that any wish of sincere devotee visiting this temple will be fulfilled.[5][6] The sanctum sanctorum or Garbhagriha is located in a cave, under a huge slating rock, which covers half the abode.
New Yadadri Temple
A new temple is being built at the old temple site. The temple was renamed as Yadadri by Vaishnavaite ascetic Chinna Jeeyar Swamy, who is overseeing and guiding every aspect of the new temple. For use until the new temple is completed, a temporary temple, Balalayam, was built. The temple is open now..
Donations and Renovations
The Chief Minister of Telangana, K. Chandrashekhar Rao initiated the renovation of the temple, and approved a final layout. Major renovation of the temple is being taken up with a budget of ₹1800 crores. The work started in 2016 and is being executed by Yadadri Temple Development Authority (YTDA). The temple owned 39 kilos of gold and 1,753 tonnes of silver for lining the gopurams and walls in the temple. The centuries-old practice of using lime mortar to join different stone parts is being used The YTDA acquired around 1900 acres by spending ₹300 crores.
The Seventh Nizam of Hyderabad, Mir Osman Ali Khan during his time also passed a grant of Rs.82,825 to this temple
Sections
The sections of the temple include the main temple, Mukha Mandapam, seven gopurams (domes) with wooden roofs, vratha peetham, Swamy Vari Udyana Vanam, kalyana mandapam, satram etc.
The pillars of 12 Alvars in the main temple is a significant feature
Temple architecture
The architecture of the temple is based on Agama Shashtra. The temple is built entirely in stone. The temple was earlier built on 2 acres. After demolishing all structures on the temple hillock, the base for the temple is now 14 acres.
Design
The principal architect is Anand Sai and lead architect P Madhusudhan , chosen for there understanding of the ancient designs based on silpa and Agama principles. The entire temple is built in stone. The stone designs in Yadadri were provided by the chief sthapathi of the temple, Soundara Rajan.
Sculptures
Three types are stones are being used for the temple like Krishna Sila (Purusha Sila) for presiding deities in the sanctum
sanctorum; Sthri Sila for deities of Goddesses; and Napusaka Sila for flooring and walls etc. Black granite stone is also used, based
on the temple architecture of the Kakatiya Dynasty in Telangana. The black granite stone has tiny pores, that becomes strong and
hard when milk, curd, oil and other liquids get into pores, according to shilipis (sculpture experts).
Transport
Yadagirigutta is about 60 km (approx. 38 miles) from Hyderabad and is well connected by both rail and road. The nearest railway
station is Raigiri (about 3 km) for passenger trains. After alighting at Raigiri, one can take an auto rickshaw or tanga.
The Hyderabad MMTS - Phase II is planned, to be extended from Ghatkesar to Raigir station, which is 5 km from Yadagirigutta.
A new bus stand is built on a 15 acres, as a part of new temple development.