Sri Varaha Moorthy Swamy

[Autumn Pitz]

Rajagopuram literally means Royal Tower, an entrance that is fit for royalty but especially for the God in the Temples. Many temples in India have four entrances with towers but usually one of them is a grand one. At SSVT the height of the Rajagopuram is 56 feet. But because of the additional steps one has to climb to reach the prakaram level, it actually appears to be more than 70 feet high. This is a most magnificent and grand view. It is made up of seven tiers or levels starting very widely at the base and narrowing as it goes up. It is capped by a grand topping adorned by 9 Kalasas.

The Front Tower starts off straight up from the floor at the prakara to ceiling level and is adorned with intricate Indianization with tall Dwarapalakas or Entrance Guards. The front door looks magnificent with extensive workmanship and an interesting twist reserved for visualization in site. Above the ceiling level, each tier has the Dwarapalakas on the East side and Dakshinamoorthy in slightly different forms on the south side, and various forms of Vishnu (Varaha Moorthy) on the north side.

On the east side of the Rajagopuram at the second and third tier levels, are two large figurines depicting MAHASADASIVA swarupa on the southern half and MAHASUDARSHNA swarupa on the northern half. At the top of the Front Tower two Nandhis adorn the southeast and southwest corners and two Garudas on the northeast and northwest corners. Similarly, Nandhi and Garuda, the Vahanas of Siva and Vishnu also occupy the top of the Dwajasthambhas inside the Vasantha Mandapam. On the east wall of the Vasantha Mandapam, there will be Dasavatharam (Ten Incarnations of Vishnu) and Siva Moorthis.

To depict the Unity of Siva and Vishnu, there is an architectural depiction of RISHABA KUNJARA (Bull and Elephant) in one silpa at the ceiling level. The top tier of the Rajagopuram portrays the combined form of Siva and Vishnu as SANKARANARAYANA symbolizing their Unity.

In addition, in order to continue to reaffirm the concept of UNITY IN DIVERSITY, SRI SIVA VISHNU TEMPLE has ONE RAJAGOPURAM for both SIVA AND VISHNU. This is a very unique yet elegant aspect of our Rajagopuram. The SSVT represents the concept of ONE BRAHMAN including Vishnu, Siva, Brahma and Sakthi under ONE ROOF and now ONE RAJAGOPURAM.

Sri Narayanachar is a vaishnava pancharatra aagama priest at SSVT. He hails from Digalakote, Karnataka. He is the disciple of Shri Savyasachi Swamigal, Vaishnava Acharya of SSVT. He has been trained in Pancharatra Aagama and has training in satras including Poorva Pryogas, Srardha Pryogas, and Aparaprayogas. He joined SSVT in May 1992. He performs all the aagamic activities at SSVT and always involves devotees in when he performs either archanas or kalyanotsavams. He has been awarded Vaishnava Dharma Bhushana, Paancharatragama Vithunmani. He was the first priest representing SSVT during White House Deepavali celebration initiated by President Obama.He is fluent in Kannada, Telugu, Tamil, Hindi, Sanskrit and English

Sri. Easwaran Nampoothiri hails from Allapuzha, Kerala. He is Tantrik priest trained in Kerala Tantrik pujas through a family hereditary system under his grandfather and father. He has performed Thanthrik pujas and prtishtapanams in many states in India. Melsanthi at Sabarimalai Temple in 1996-1997 and at Sabarimalai-Mallikapuram temple in 1985-86 are something he cherishes. He joined SSVT in September 2000 as Tantrik priest. He performs all the pujas at the Ayyappan sannidhi and serves other deities as well. He leads the congregations during the Ayyapa Mandala time. He will do personal services in Kerala Tantrik tradition. He is fluent in Malayalam, Tamil, Hindi and English.

Sri. Narayana Bhatter hails from Andhra Pradesh, India. He is trained in Pancharatra Agama and Krishna Yajurvedham from his gurus Srinivasa Bhattacharya and Ranganatha Bhattacharya at Sriman Maharaja Samskritha Maha Patashala, Mysore. Prior to joining SSVT in March, 2010 he served at Wilson Garden Ram Mandhir, Bengaluru, S. V. Temple, Pittsburgh, and Sri Lakshmi Temple, Boston. He performs Venkateshwara and Anantha padmanaabha Abhishekams among other rituals in SSVT. He also performs personal samskaras. He is fluent in Tamil, Kannada, and Telugu

Sri Sivasubramanyan Ganesa Gurukkal hails from Tiruvannamalai, Tamil Nadu. He is trained in Saivagama under his Guru Dr. Somasundara Sivachariyar from Sri Lokambika Vedha Sivaagama Vidyalaya, Tiruppalaivanam, Tamilnadu. He is trained in Poorva Prayoga and Shraddha Prayogas. He served the deities in Sri Shishta Gurunadhar Temple, Sri Arunachaleswar Temple in Tamilnadu for over 15 years. Before joining SSVT in July 2011 as Sivaagama Priest he was with Sri Lakshmi Temple in Boston. He was given Veda Sivagama Vidya Bhooshanam award by Sri Lokambika Veda Sivagama Vidyalaya and Veda SivagamaVichakshana by Indian Institute of Indology. He is fluent in Tamil, and English.

Sri Sankaran Gurukkal hails from Tiruveezhimizhalai, Tamilnadu. He is trained in Saivagama under his Guru Sivasri Visvanatha Sivachariyar from Sri Vedha Sivaagama Patasali, Allur, Tamilnadu. He is trained in Poorva Prayoga and Shraddha Prayogas. He has served the Deities for more than 17 years in Mangala Vinayagar Temple, Tambaram before serving Murugan Temple (MTNA) Lanham in 2008 - 2009. After a small break In India he joined SSVT as saivagama priest in March 2010. He was given Sivaagama Siromani award by Sri Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam. Tamil Nadu and Saiva Siddhantam award by Indian Institute of Indology. He is fluent in Tamil, Hindi and Sanskrit.

Sri Venkatacharyulu Kumanduri is a vaishnava pancharatra aagama priest at SSVT. He hails from Kesavaram Andhra Pradesh. He finished his veda aagama studies from Sri Pancharaatra Aagama kSalashaala, Jeeyar Educational Trust, Jaggayyapet, Andhra Pradesh under his Guru Srinivasacharya Samudrala. He also has a B.Com degree from Andhra University. He has served in different temples in Hyderabad for 10 years before joining SSVT in May 2011. He participated in Yagnas and Prathistas with His Holiness Sri Tridandi Chinna Jeeyar Swami. He does all the Vaishnava Aagama rituals, Kalyanotsavams etc at SSVT. He is fluent in Telugu, Tamil, Hindi and English

Sri Sanjeev Mahajanam is from vayalapadu, near Tirupathi. He was trained as Naivedyam Acharya in Tirupathi Devasthanams. He worked for Tirumala Tirupathi Devasthaanam temples at Sri Kariyamaikya swami Temple and Sri Annapoorna sametha Sri Kashi Vishweshwara Swami temple, Chittoor District, Sri Kalyana Venkateshwara Swami temple and Sri Chandramouleswara Swamy temple at Rishikesh and Sri Venkateshwara swamy Temple at Panchakula, Haryana. He joined SSVT in September 2015

Sri Muali Shastri comes to us from Chennai. He is a Rigveda Vaidika Priest. He has studied Rigveda Samhita for five years at the Sarvaignyatmendra Saraswathi Swamigal Rigveda padasalai in Brahmadesam; studied Kramantham for two years at Sankara Gurukula Veda Padasalai, Hyderabad; studied Ghanantham for two years at Shridevi Veda Vidyalaya Padasalai in Shriselam, Andra Pradesh; studied Veda Bhasyam for seven yearsat Bhramasri Maha Mahopadyaya Krishna Murthi Shastrigal at Brahma Vidya Gurukulam, Chennai, Tamil Nadu. Additionally, he has also studied Vaithikha Purva Apara Prayogam and has been performing Prayogam for 11 years. He is knowledgeable in Tamil, Sanskrit, English and knows Telugu. He joined SSVT in February 2016.

Moving further will take us to Kroda Narasimha, where the Lord is worshipped in the form of a boar. It is said that if one does Narayana Satakshari Japa and Parayana of Varahakanda at this place will be blessed with immense spiritual consciousness.

Altogether, there are nine temples in the vicinity of 5kms depicting nine different forms of the Lord such as Jwala Narasimha, Ahobila Narasimha, Malola Narasimha, Kroda Narasimha, Kaaranja Narasimha, Bhargava Narasimha, Yogananda Narasimha, Chathravata Narasimha and Paavana Narasimha.

Lower Ahobilam temple deity is said be installed by Tirumala lord Venkateswara himself before his wedding, since the lord of upper Ahobilam has a Ugra (angry) form. There are several Narsimha temples in the surrounding hills like Pamuleti Narasimhaswamy, which are popular among local populations. Lord Narasimha appears in different forms as Ugra Murthi(aggressive form), Shanta Murthy (tranquil form), Yoga Murthy (in penance) and Kalyana Murthy with his consort Sri Chenchu Lakshmi.

After slaying Hiranyakashyapa, Lord Narasimha proceeded to the Nallamala forest in his UgraAvataram (aggressive form). The devas were worried about this form and prayed to Goddess Lakshmi to pacify him. She took form as Chenchu Lakshmi, a tribal girl, in the same forest. On seeing her, Lord Narasimha asked her to marry him. She put him through a lot of tests completely before agreeing to marry him.

In the lower Ahobila Lakshmi Narasimha Swami is in a peaceful form. The temple has exquisite stone art. The history of Ahobila temple is sculptured in the stone form. Lord Srinivasa himself is said to installed the main deity here. He is said to have sought the blessings of Narasimha before his wedding but finding the Narasihma in fierce form in Upper Ahobila, he is said to have installed the peaceful form in the lower Ahobila.

The temple complex also had temples for Adivan Sathagopulu. The sculptures of coronation of Lord Srirama (Sreerama Pattabhishekha), the ten incarnation of Lord Vishnu (Dasavatharas), statues of Poet Annamacharya are present on the walls of the temple. Annamacharya is said to have spent some time here composing songs praising the Lord Narasimha.

The great sage Lord Pothuluri Veerabrahmendra Swamy is said to have meditated here to write Kalagnana (the knowledge of the future) which set forth a spiruitual movement. It is a common practice to worship the Prahlada Varada Narasimha (the Narasimha who gave boons to Prahlada) in lower Ahobilam before worshipping Eguva (Upper) Ahobila Narasimha, who is present eight kilometers away on a hilltop inside a cave.

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