Sri Prahlada Varada Temple Ahobilam

Sri Prahlada Varada Temple-Ahobilam

The temple of Sri Prahlada Varada is situated in Lower Ahobilam in Andhra Pradesh. Here Lord Narasimha is blessing Prahlada Maharaja. The family Deity of Sri Srinivasa Govinda in Tirupati is Lord Narasimha in Ahobilam. Because the Lord was in the fierce form, Srinivasa installed the deity of the Lord in the shantha form and worshiped him before his marriage with Padmavathi Devi.

The utsava deities of Sri Pavana Narasimha and Jwala Narasimha are worshiped in this temple. This place is also popular by the name Chinna Ahobilam or Diguva Tirupati.

The specialty of this Temple is Lord Narasimha’s posture in the pillars. In one pillar, he is represented as a divine ascetic presenting ascetic order to the first Jeeyar of Ahobila Mutt. Both in the Upper and Lower Ahobilam, it is a common sight on the pillars of Lord Narasimha wooing his consort Chenchu Lakshmi.

It is a common practice to worship the Prahlada Varada Narasimha (the Narasimha who gave boons to Prahlada) in lower Ahobila before worshipping Yeguva (Upper) Ahobila Narasimha, situated at about 8 Kms away on a hilltop inside a cave. After worshipping the Lord, it is another practice to visit Nava Narasimhas (Nine Narasimhas). Those who pray at this shrine with devotion would obtain the grace of the Lord and the Goddess.

Lord Lakshmi Narasimha and Lakshmidevi on his left thigh in sitting posture and facing towards east are worshipped here. This Swami is also known as Prahladavardan because of his grace on Prahlada. Lakshmidevi is called as Amritavalli Tayar. The idols of Prahladavarada, Pranavanarasimha and Jwalanarasimha with ten arms on each side are located inside the temple. A small idol of Sri Adivan Shadagopaswamy, the first Jeeyar Swami, is located in front of the sanctum sanctorum. For security reasons, except for Malola Narasimha all the other 8 Festival idols will be kept in the temple. Only the Idol of Malolan Narasimha is kept in the Ahobila Math.

The temple mantapam is currently used as the Swami Kalyana mantapam. Along with the Venkateshwara Temple, there is a large water pillar to symbolize the victory of Krishnadevaraya, the Godadevi, the Andal and the Alwar temples. In addition there are many other temples in the Diguva Ahobilam Temple premises.