Lioness Lion : Mangalagiri

Thursday, April 15, 2021

Mangalagiri

Mangalairi means “Auspicious Hill”. Mangalagiri is a town in Guntur District. The Old name of Mangalagiri is “Tothadri. The Goddess Lakshmi devi has done tapas on this hill. There are 3 Narasimha swamy temples in Mangalagiri.

One is the Panakala Narasimha Swamy temple on the hill.
Another one is Panakala Narasimha Swamy on the foot of the temple.
Third one is Gandala Narasimha Swamy temple at the top of the hill.

The shape of the hill looks like an elephant from all the directions. The Lord that has established himself on the hill is in the form of Narasimha (Main-God).

According to the Legends, Namuchi a Rakshasa after great penance obtained a boon from Brahma. That he would be killed by anything that is either wet or dry. He began to harass Indra and Devatas. Then devathas were requested to lord Vishnu to protect from the demon. Lord Vishnu killed the demon in the form of Lakshmi Narasimha. The devathas themselves were unable to withstand the fire of anger of the lord. The Lord took Amrutham and cooled down. Present the devotees were offering of Panakam (Jaggery water) to the Lord. So the god called as panakala Narasimha Swamy.

At the foot of the hill there is another temple whose origin is traced to the time of Yudhistira the eldest of Pandavas. The shrine called as panakala Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy kshetram.