Ahobilam Temple Restoration

Earlier this decade, in a matter of 18 months, Venu Srinivasan under the direction of the then CM of TN J Jayalalitha undertook what was to be a once in a century restoration of the Ranganathaswamy Temple in Srirangam. It was transformational because in the 75 years preceding the renovation, almost every single sannidhi in the temple had seen unwanted additional construction that took away ventilation and made every Sannidhi dark and congested. Most of the Sannidhis remained shut. The restoration exercise saw every single such new construction being brought down and the sannidhis brought back to its historical glory in terms of architectural beauty. Today, every Sannidhi is open each day of the year.

As seen in the story in July this year (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2020/07/venu-srinivasan-historical-temples.html), after having undertaken restoration of temples in TN since the mid 1990s, Venu has now moved onto temple restoration initiatives outside Tamil Nadu. With the lifting of the lockdown restrictions, he has just begun a large scale restoration initiated for the first time in almost 50 years at Ahobilam Divya Desam, located just over 100kms North West of Cuddapah, under the blessings of the Jeer of the over 600 years old Ahobilam Mutt.The scenario at Ahobilam was no different from what the one that existed in Srirangam prior to the commencement of the activities. Since the last large scale repairs work organised in 1974, there has been extensive additional construction within and outside the temple complex in lower and upper Ahobilam.                

It was the Ahobila Narasimha cave temple in Upper Ahobilam (about 8kms from Lower Ahobilam) at the foot of Garudathri about 3000feet above sea level that Thirumangai Azhvaar visited and sung praise referring to this location in his verses as Singavel Kundram. The difficulty of visiting Singavel Kundram can be seen from this verse of Thirumangai where he says that it is almost impossible to reach this temple as this is a rocky terrain with constant forest fires and the presence of bow wielding hunters.

முனைத்த சீற்றம் வின்சுடப்போய் 

மூவுலகும் பிறவும்

அனைத்தும் அஞ்ச ஆள் அரி ஆய் 

இருந்த அம்மானது இடம்

கனைத்த தீயும் கல்லும் அல்லா

வில் உடைய வேடரும் ஆய்

தினைத்தனையும் செல்ல ஒண்ணாச்

சிங்கவேழ் குன்றமே

Ahobila Narasimha is seen in an Ugra Posture with Prahalada standing opposite to him. The Utsava deity of Ahobila Narasimha Divya Desam is seen at the Lakshmi Narasimha Prahalada Varadan temple at Lower Ahobilam. 

Within three months of beginning the restoration exercise, there has been a sea change at this Divya Desam. Just ahead of the lockdown, the 24pillar mandapam at the entrance arch was seen with huge amount of debris with the structure having gone down. After removal of the debris and work around the structure, the mandapam has been brought back to its historical best.

Worse was the state of the 12 Pillar Mandapam. Rubbles surrounded the Mandapam that was seen in an unattended state. A good portion of the mandapam had sunk below the earth. After the first phase of work as one sees it in Karthigai, it is almost unrecognizable. 

The 36 Pillar Mandapam and the Sasana Mandapam are no different. The bottom part of the Mandapams has not been visible with huge quantity of mud and debris that had collected over several decades. In fact, those visiting the divya desam in recent times would not have been aware of the historical nature of this architecture. The work is now under progress to reflect the foundation of the mandapams in its historical beauty. While the base of the Sasana Mandapam had gone below, the flooring and roofing were in dilapidated conditions. Stones were seen in broken condition and these have been replaced. A new weathering course has been initiated on the roof of the Mandapam. 

To get a feel of how the Divya Desam had deteriorated in terms of its architecture, one only had to visit the Ramanuja Sannidhi in Ahobilam. There was a thick growth of shrubs, the sannidhi had gone beneath, the path leading to the Sannidhi was strewn with rough stones and the sannidhi complex itself provided a forlorn look. Subsequent to the activities undertaken over the last three months the Ramanuja Sannidhi and around stand transformed. Even as one looks at it from a distance, one can feel the historical nature of the Sannidhi.

The pavement around the Theppakulam pointed to the dilapidated state of various zones at the temple complex. The west entrance had remained shut for a long time, the south side was full of shrubs and the west mandapam was in a dilapidated condition. Repair works around the Theppakulam over the last quarter has reopened this entrance and provided a facelift to the entire zone. There is beautiful greenery on the South side reminding one of similar restoration near the 1000 pillared mandapam in Srirangam.

The Laddu Counter, and this is typical of most of the historical temples, is a prime example of how new constructions have come up inside temple complexes of late, to cash in on the popularity of the ‘prasadam’. The new construction is being dismantled and a traditional open stall is being set up.

Huge complexes relating to Anna Dhanam sheds, the provisions storage and the devotee toilets had all been built within the temple complex. These are being shifted outside of the prakaram into more acceptable zones.

                             Laddu Stall and Anna Dhanam Shed - New Accretions

In the first prakaram, new flooring had meant that historical epic carvings lay hidden and unseen. The Flooring has been restored and the entire stone carving that date back several centuries are now clearly visible to the devotees. In the second prakaram, a stone mandapam lay completely hidden with big sized new constructed that had converted it into rooms and offices. These additional constructions have been brought down and the mandapam restored to its historical grandeur.

Another common feature seen in almost all the historical temples in the last few decades has been the painting of the ‘Mathil’. Across the entire temple complex, the new styled paintings have been removed and the temple walls now have the historical look to it.

Vishnu took the form of Narasimha (half man-half lion) in this mountainous terrain to kill Asura Hiranyakashipu. The pillar – Ugra Stambha- out of which Vishnu came out in his Narasimha Avataar is seen at the top of the Nalla Malai forest, about 7kms above the Upper Ahobila Divya Desam.

Thiru Mangai Azhvaar begins by praising Narasimha's physical strength and his special appearance in a half man-half lion posture and tearing Asura Hiranya’s chest while the world looked awe struck at his power and ability to destroy the Asura.

It is one of the most exhilarating experiences to make the trip across rocks and water falls to reach the top of this mountain. While it is not an easy task, especially as there is no straight path or steps (unlike a Sholingur), a sincere devotee whose thoughts center around the Lord will be able to make it to the top of this mountain in about 2hours from Ahobila Narasimha temple.

2kms below the Ugra Stambha and 5kms above Ahobila Narasimha Divya Desam is the Jwala Narasimha temple, the exact place where Narasimha tore open Hiranyakashipu. This temple is in a very scenic location, mountains on all sides, with the water fall just about 50yards away. To this day, one can see the red blood below the rock signifying the Hiranya Samharam. At the Jwala Narasimha Sannidhi, one finds Lord Narasimha in the middle in a fiery sitting posture here with 8hands. With a couple of hands, he is seen tearing open Hiranyakashipu and with another two, he is seen holding the Conch and Chakra. 

The developments at Upper Ahobilam is no different to the one below. New additions, Polished granite flooring, shutting out of light and ventilation in most mandapams with the construction of closed walls all around. As with Lower Ahobilam, there too the ‘accruals’ of recent decades have been removed, the polished floors replaced with traditional stones and all the mandapams restored to what it once were.

There are several inscriptions inside both the Lower and Upper Ahobilam temples. 14th Century inscription records the construction of the steps at the Upper Ahobilam (Divya Desam) temple. A 15th century inscription reveals the gifting of the village (Kaluvacheru- Komaragiripuram) by Karama Reddi for the conduct of the daily rituals and worship at the Divya Desam. A mid 16th century inscription reveals the contributions made by Vijayanagar kings. Kakatiya kings also contributed to the improvement of the temple and the mandapas. Inscriptions relating to the 16th century provide insights into the building of mandapam, Garuda Stambha and festivals on 220 days in the year. Another interesting inscription refers to ‘Thaligai’ to be presented to the Lord twice a day- once at noon and the other in the evening at the Lower Ahobilam temple. Krishna Deva Raya, who sought the blessings of Ahobila Narasimha before going for a battle, came back after having won the battle and installed the Vijaya Stambha in front of the temple here.