Nara-Simha
We had a great time driving to Ahobilam from Hyderabad. We had splendid darshans of all the nine Narasimha temples, the main temple and an exhilarating journey to the top of the Ugrastambha. The Nallamala forests looked absolutely ravishing and had every attribute to lay a trap for the visiting devotees to fall in love and possibly form notions of settling there. While everything about our trip to Ahobilam was satisfying, one question remained. Who or what is Narasimha? Why did the God appear in this strange form of half human and half lion? The story goes that the demon king, Hiranya Kashipa, had the boon of immortality unless killed by someone who doesn't fall into any of regular categories of species and at a time that doesn't qualify as day or night etc. That is if we take the story at its face value. But if one strongly believes that Hindu scriptures are loaded with symbolism, then there is always a window of opportunity to deconstruct and understand the symbolism better.