Ahobilam

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Ahob
అహోబిలం
Holy Site
Upper Ahobilam temple Gopuram
Upper Ahobilam temple Gopuram
Ahob is located in Andhra Pradesh
Ahob
Ahob
Location in Andhra Pradesh, India
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Country  India
State Andhra Pradesh
District Kurnool
Elevation 327 m (1,073 ft)
Languages
 • Official Telugu
Time zone IST (UTC+5:30)
close up shot of Ugra stambham peak at Ahobilam, Nallamala Hills

Ahobilam is a holy site in the Allagadda mandal of Kurnool district in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh.[1] It is located 70 km from Nandyal and 150 km from Kurnool, the district headquarters. There are two temple houses, lower Ahobilam and upper Ahobilam. According to legend, this is where Lord Narasimha blessed Prahlada and killed the demon Hiranyakashipu.

Geography

Ahobilam is located at Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found..[2] It has an average elevation of 327 meters (1076 feet).

Etymology

Tamil poems "The Naalayira Divya Prabandham (Tamil:C )" is a collection of 4,000 Tamil verses (Naalayira in Tamil means 'four thousand') composed before 8th century AD, by the 12 Alvars, and was compiled in its present form by Nathamuni during the 9th – 10th centuries. In this ten poems dedicated to the god of Ahobilam. These were composed by Thirumangai Alvar (Tamil:திருமங்கை அழ்வார்),Tamil saint Tirumangai Alwar(one among 12 Alvars), who lived in the 8th Century A.D has composed ten poems in praise of the God of Ahobilam.Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams. Vaishanava bhakti literature was an all-India phenomenon, which started in the 6th–7th century A.D. in the Tamil-speaking region of South India, with twelve Alvar (one who is immersed in God) saint-poets, who wrote devotional songs. The religion of Alvar poets, which included a woman peot, Andal, was devotion to God through love (bhakti), and in the ecstasy of such devotions they sang hundreds of songs which embodied both depth of feeling and felicity of expressions (Indian literature(Official Website of Govt of India), Sri Vaishnavam

Annamacharya also mentions in his slokas about Ahobalam.

<templatestyles src="Template:Blockquote/styles.css" />

garuDAdri vEdAdri

rachachala velasinaTTi ramAvanita eeme
machchikagala alamElumanga eeme
ichchaTi venkaTAdri née ahObalamunandu

nichchalu tAvukonna nidhAnamu eeme

Meaning: She is goddess Ramaa who established herself amidst us. She is Alamelumanga dear to all. She is the eternal treasure established on Venkatadri and Ahobalam.

The temple

Nava Narasimha Kshetram
A pillar at Ahobilam temple in Kurnool District of Andhra Pradesh.jpg
Narasimha Swamy
God Name: Narasimha or Prahladha Varadha[3]
Goddess Name: Amritavalli (Lakshmi devi)[3]
Pushkarni: Indra Pushkarni
Vimanam: Vimanam Guha Vimanam
Temple Name: Yogananda Narasimha
Temple Name: Jwala Narasimha
Temple Name: Bhargava Narasimha
Temple Name: Chatravata Narasimha
Temple Name: Varaha Narasimha
Temple Name: Malola Narasimha
Temple Name: Paavana Narasimha
Temple Name: Karanja Narasimha
Location: Allagadda
State and Country: Andhra Pradesh, India
Lower Ahobilam Temple Gopuram

Demographics

The town of Ahobilam is in the state of Andhra Pradesh, and Telugu is the official language and spoken by a large segment. Up to 1954, people of the Chenchu tribe lived as many families collecting honey and bamboo. As of today, there are only two to five families living there. The remaining families have relocated to different places in Kurnool district.

Transport

It is accessible by bus from Nandyal, Kurnool and Hyderabad. Ahobilam is not connected by rail; the nearest railway stations are Nandyal (on the Bangalore-Vizag (Visakhapatnam) route) and Cuddapah (on the Mumbai-Chennai route). There are three routes reaching Ahobilam. Pilgrims from the north can get down at Nandyal, which is a railway junction from Kurnool, and travel by bus to Allagadda and Ahobilam, which is only thirty miles from Nandyal. The second route is from Dhone which is another railway station and from which one can reach Ahobilam via Banganapalle and Koilkuntla.

The other route is to get down at Kadapa which is a district headquarters and an important railway station in the MadrasBombay route. From Cuddapah one has to travel to Allagadda, which is forty miles over and from there by bus to Ahobilam.

References

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  2. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. 3.0 3.1 http://vedagnana.org/Content/Temples/List/74_Ahobilam.php

External links