Penchalakona Narasimha Swamy Temple
Penchalakona is one of the prominent Narasimha Kshetras in Andhra Pradesh, located in Nellore district, nestled within lush green hills, a thick forest and waterfalls all around.
The temple is located at the confluence of the Nallamalla and Seshachalam forest ranges, around 3000 feet above sea level.
As per the Sthala Purana, after killing Hiranyakasipu, Narasimha Swamy, roamed around in his fierce form, frightening everyone around. It was then Lakshmi took birth as Chenchu Lakshmi, the daughter of the chieftain of the Chenchu tribes who inhabited the forests.
She approached him with devotion, offered him fruits and flowers. Pleased with her devotion, Narasimha Swamy, calmed down, married her as per tribal traditions, and then became one among the Chenchu tribe people. He bought good fortune to the Chenchus, and then manifested himself as a huge rock, due to which he is also known as Penusila Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy, Sila meaning rock. The place was called as Chenchalakona, which in due course of time corrupted to Penchalakona.
Even though the temple is surrounded by very dense forest, the devotees do not suffer any insect bites or animal attacks due to the grace of Narasimha Swamy. The temple itself dates around 700 years back, and it’s believed, Bharata, the son of Shakuntala and Dushyant, from whom we get the name of our country, grew up here in Rishi Kanva’s Ashram. And the river flowing nearby the temple is called Kanvaleru which in due course of time came to be known as Kandaleru. There is an earthern dam built across the Kandaleru river under the Telugu Ganga project.
The temple was believed to have been discovered by a Boya shepherd from Gonupalli, when he went to graze his sheep in the forest, Narsimha Swamy himself appeared as an old man, and directed him to the rock. He instructed the villagers to build a temple around the rock, he also instructed the shepherd to go without looking back. However when the shepherd boy looked back out of curiosity, he turned into a rock.
The temple has a beautiful Gaali Gopuram with intricate carvings of Devatas, sculpted on them. There is also a pond called Narasimha Pushkarni, where devotees take a dip before enterting the temple.
While the temple can be reached by road, there is also a trekking route through very dense forests, for the more adventurous, where you get beautiful views of the valley and streams.
The Narasimha Swamy Brahmotsavams are celebrated on a very grand scale here during April, May on the occasion of Narasimha Jayanti.
There are many buses from Nellore, Gudur, Venkar, Ravur to Penchalakona. However except for some Dharmasatrams, there are not many places to stay,so most visit and come back the same day.