The Untold History of Simhachalam || Varaha Narasimha Avatar || HG Maha Vishnu Dasa

Simhachalam Varaha Narasimha:
The Sthala Purana of Simhachalam recounts the history of the great devotee Prahlada Maharaja and his demonic father, Hiranyakasipu. After many unsuccessful attempts to kill Sri Prahlada, Hiranyakasipu ordered, as a last resort, to hurl Sri Prahlada into the sea and place a huge mountain over him. The servants chose to do this at Simhachalam. Hiranyakasipu’s servants brought Prahlada to this place, which is north of Visakhapatnam, just a few kilometres from here is the sea. Hiranyakasipu and his servants, they took Prahlada, little tiny boy, 5 years old, deep into the sea. They threw him into the water. Then they took a mountain and covered him to keep him down. Prahlada Maharaja was not afraid of death. His only fear was to forget Krishna. Chanting the Holy Names of Krishna, Krishna always protects His devotees. The Supreme Personality of Godhead appeared before Prahlada, at this very place. He lifted the mountain and took Prahlada, personally out, with His own hands, and brought Prahlada to safety. It is also said that since the Lord jumped at once to rescue Prahlada, the Lord’s lotus feet went into Patala. The local Sthala Purana says that the darshan of Lord’s lotus feet is available only to inhabitants of Patala Loka.
After Lord Krishna appeared in His avatar as Nrsimhadeva and killed demoniac Hiranyakasipu, in the later pastimes, Prahlada Maharaja came to this place, Simhachalam, because this is one of the places where the Lord performed the great miracle to protect him. He prayed to Lord Nrsimhadeva, that I want to worship You, and have darshan of You in that form that You killed my uncle Hiranyaksha, and my father Hiranyakasipu. Lord Krishna reveals Himself according to our consciousness. So just to please Prahlada Maharaja, the Lord assumed the form of this deity - Varaha Nrsimha. He has the face of Lord Varahadeva, and He has a body like Lord Nrsimhadeva, body of a man, and the claws and the tail of a lion. Prahlada Maharaja began to worship this deity, which self-manifested before him here, with great, great devotion. In fact he even built a small temple around the deity.
Prahlada built a temple around the Deity. It is said that after Prahlada handed over the kingdom to his son, he worshipped the deity personally. However at the end of Satya Yuga, owing to neglect perhaps, a huge anthill gathered around the Deity. But at the beginning of another yuga the Deity was rediscovered by Pururava, the king of the lunar dynasty, who is mentioned in the 9th Canto of the Srimad-Bhagavatam. Riding with Urvashi, in an aerial chariot over the hills of the South, Pururava was drawn by a mysterious power to Simhachalam. So what they explained is that the Supreme Lord was really disgusted seeing Pururava running around with Urvashi. Something like that. Because king Puruarva was a descendent of great royalty of Vaishnavas, so He approached as a boar and interrupted Pururava’s situation. Pururava chased after the boar. Later on He appeared in a dream to King Pururava, and explained to him that within His form of Varaha-Narasimha, He is on this mountain, and He wanted to find Him. So the king was searching everywhere, but he could not find Him. Then the Lord again appeared to him in a dream and revealed exactly where He was. The King Pururava rediscovered this deity of Varaha-Narasimha in this place. He got 1000 kalashas or vessels of water from the river called Gangtal. It is said that the Ganga when she saw that Lord Nrsimhadeva is living here, she appeared here just to render service to Him. Then he performed the grand Abhisheka ceremony. But the Lord informed king Pururava that you have not rendered the same quality of service as the ants, the ants made this anthill for Me, to protect Me. The Lord was still in a very angry mood and that anger created a tremendous heat. He told him I want you to cover My body with candana. He told him exactly how to do it, and according to that instruction to this very day the deity is worshipped in that way. The body of the deity is covered with 480 kg of candana by the end of the year. Lord instructed that one day a year, on Akshay Tritiya, He would give darshan without candana covering His body. On Akshay Tritiya the deity is uncovered. By the next day dawn, Lord is covered with 120 kg of candana over His body. Then on Vaishakha Purnima with another 120 kg of candana over His body, on Jyeshta Purnima with another 120 kg of candana, and on Ashadh Purnima with another 120 kg of chandan. So after Ashadh Purnima you will see the Lord with 480 pounds of Chandan covering His body, and it remains like that until the next time on Akshay Tritiya when they uncover.
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