SRI NARASIMHA DARSHANAM 105

NAMAKKAL

LakshmI sahasram
daSAvatAra stabakam
(stabakam 21)

(Source: maNipravALa articles in SrI ranganAtha pAdukA by

Prof. KaNNan svAmy)

Translated into English By

Dr (Smt) Geetha Anand
with
Additional Commentaries in English By
SrI nrsimha seva rasikan
Oppiliappan Koil SrI VaradAcAri SaThakopan

Slokam 11

haryasha: ayam hari: iti vaca: tvayya na abhUtapUrvam

na prahlAda upacaya karatA no hiraNyAngadatvam |

tasmAt asmat janani paramam vismayam te vidhAtum

nAtha: apUrvam kim iha jagrhe nArasimham SarIram ||

Meaning:

asmat janani! My Mother! Did the Lord incarnate as the Man-lion to impress
You? He knew that You will not be impressed by the following:

Him being haryaksha - one with sUrya and candra as eyes, when He displays
His quality of protecting PrahlAdan/making one happy, when He displays His
quality of tearing HiraNyakaSipu’s body/ having golden arm bands.

Comments:

EmperumAn is called haryaksha - eyes of Hari, which also means one who has
the sun and the moon as His eyes, one with eyes that are yellow in color.
 SRI NARASIMHA DARSHANAM 105
NAMAKKAL
prahlAda upacaya karatA means one who glorifies PrahlAda. It also means
one who makes others happy.

hiraNya angadatvam means one who tore the angam of HiraNyan. It also
means Hiranya angadan, one who has golden ornament. So He incarnated as
half man-half lion or nrsimha to surprise PirATTi.

paramam means nrsimha rUpam gave infinite happiness to PirATTi. His

rUpam was “apUrvam”- very rare.

Namakkal also called Namagiri is bounded on the North by Salem district, East by
Attur taluk, South by Karur district and West by Erode. Namakkal belongs to the
district of Salem and its scenic beauty is due to its situation being bounded by hilly
(Kollimalai) ranges and rocks with undulatory plains. Cauvery is the main river, west
and south-west, of this district.
 SRI NARASIMHA DARSHANAM 105
NAMAKKAL
The story connected with this place (sthala purana) is that in the fourth incarnation
(Avathara) of Mahavishnu, Narasimha (a manly form with the head of a lion), after
killing the demon Hiranyakasipu, was still ferocious and angry. In response to the
prayers of Prahlada, the son of Hiranyakasipu and a great devotee of Mahavishnu,
Lord Narasimha blessed him and disappeared in the form of a shell (Saligramam)
and was worshipped in this form by Prhalada. When Mahavishnu took the incarnation
Rama, as the Prince of Ayodhya, Hanuman – the Monkey faced devotee of Rama,
brought the hill on which the life-saving herb Sanjivini was supposed to be, from the
Himalayas. After restoring Rama’s younger brother Lakshmana back to life with the
herb, Hanuman replaced the hill in the Himalayas and on his return he brought the
shell Saligramam. On his return journey by air, as it was day break, Hanuman Placed
the shell (Saligramam) near the tank called Kamalalayam, in Namakkal, to do his
morning prayers to the Sun God (Sandhayvandanam). The goddess Mahalakshmi
was doing penance to unite with her husband Mahavishnu in the Kamalalayam. After
his prayers, when Hanuman tried to lift the Saligramam, he could not move it!
Surprised, Hanuman prayed to Mahavishnu and the Saligramam grew into the rock
Namakkal. A voice asked him to return to Sri Lanka to complete his services to Rama
and return in a later age – Kaliyuga, the present age – to worship Narasimha at
Namakkal. Thus, it is believed that Hanuman, brought Narasimha to Namakkal and
united him with his consort Mahalakshmi. Hence, the lord of this temple is called
Lakshmi Narasimha. Mythologically the fame of Mahalakshmi began to spread far
and wide due to the boons she received from her husband Lord Narasimha.

An 18 feet high idol of Hanuman, also called as Sri Anjaneya, with folded hands is
found worshipping Sri Lakshmi Narasimha in the Narasimhamurthy rock Temple, on
the western side of the hillock. Surprisingly, there is no structure such as a roof and
a gopuram on top of the idol of Hanuman or Anajaneya!

The Namakkal Fort on top of the rock is said to have been built during the Madurai
Nayak regime. On the eastern side of this rock is the cave temple of Sri Ranganatha
lying on the serpent Karakotaka. Both these cave temples, according to the
Archaeological survey, were built by the Adhiyaman rulers, who ruled over Kongu
during the 7th century A.D. These temples are administered and very well
maintained by the H.R. and C.E. Department of the State Government and they are
protected monuments of the Archaeological Department of the Government of India.

Srinivasa Ramanujan was born on December 22, 1887, at Erode, which is the home
of his mother Komalathhammal. At the instance of his mother, Ramnujan went to
Namakkal from Madras with his benefactor S. Narayana Iyer (Manager, Port Trust,
Madras), prior to his departure to Cambridge in January 1914. Ramanujan prayed to
the goddess Namagiri by sitting in the center of a four pillared mandapam facing the
goddess, in the Narasimha swamy Temple. It is said that they stayed in the precincts
of the temple for three days, and Ramanujan got the permission of the goddess to
go to England, in a dream when he was asleep. He woke Narayana Iyer and told him
that his mission of getting the permission of the goddess to go to England was
accomplished.

At the top of the rock, the beautiful looking ramparts of a fort provide an excellent
background to the cave temples at the foot of the hillock on the eastern and western
sides. A mosque is also at the top of the hillock.
 SRI NARASIMHA DARSHANAM 105
NAMAKKAL

Narasimha temple opposite to the popular Hanuman temple is very famous; it looks
as if Hanuman is under the direct command of Narasimha.

It looks as if Hanuman is under the direct praise of Narasimha. The Narasimha is

eight armed holding a prayoga charka, a sword, a conch and a bow. Hiranyakashipu
is seen on His lap being torn into pieces. Hiranya can be seen helpless before the
claws of Narasimha. There is also another exquisite piece of art in the temple. It is
that of Lakshmi Narayana. This sculpture has been very elaborately carved and even
the conch and the discus look outstanding.

In this temple, Mahavishnu is not resting on the Adisesha but seated. On either side
are Brahma and Narasimha.

The story behind the origins of this temple goes as follows. When Mahavishnu slew
Hiranyakashipu His rage did not subside. He was all hot with anger that even the
Devas were petrified. They thought that if Vishnu were to remain angry forever, then
the world would son come to an end. They approached refuge at the feet of Lakshmi
Narayana. In order to please the Devas, the Lord took the form of both Narasimha
and Lakshmi Narayana, the latter being a sober manifestation.

There is an eye-catching piece of art in this temple of both Shiva and Vishnu in the
same idol. The left side of the idol has Vishnu from the summit to the toe while the
right has Shiva. The uniqueness of this idol is that Shiva holds a snake in His
forehand. This sight is very rare as there is no other temple which exhibits this
wonder. A blend of art, history and divinity - that’s Namakkal for you.

Courtesy

http://www.imsc.res.in/~rao/ramanujan/newnow/namagiriindex.htm
Sriman Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri Sadagopan