Sri Laxmi Narasimha Swami Dharmapuri Telangana
Sri Laxmi Narasimha Swami Temple situtated in Dharmapuri , Karimnagar dist ,
The Lord Narasimha is Lord of Dharmapuri. Daily 1,000 on an average pligrims, visit the sacred temple of Lord Narasimha for prayer. Hindus believes Lakshmi Narasimha to be a half man, half lion form of Vishnu. The story behind this a local being, named Hiranya kashyapa had obtained from God Bramha , protection against attack from “man or beast”. This person then began abusing his powers and began forcing others to worship himself, as if he is a God. Among those abused was his own son, Prahlada a great worshiper of Vishnu. In order to surmount Bramha’s condition, Vishnu unspecified form of that was neither man nor beast, but a combination of both, and then went on to finish off this person with his nails. That time Narsimha was very angry and called as UGRA NARASIMHA and subsequently the saints and Gods prayed him to be cool . Narasimha came to Dharmapuri and undergone a deep meditation with yoga mudra and was called Yoga Narasimha. At the same place a shrine was constructed by then king of Dharmapuri, Dharma Varma by which the town is came to known as DHARMAPURI.
The town is well located on the banks of Holy River Godavari and by virtue of this it is called as Dakshin Kashi. The trishataka kartha Kavi Sheshappa hailed from this place only. A Vedic school and Sasnskrit college are the boosting sanathana dharma and Vedic culture and transmitting in its surrounding area.
Lord Narasimha in the temple appears in the Yogic Mudra, in Padmasana (seated form) with His palms bending on His knees. The unique features of this temple are there is an Idol of Lord Brahma, about 6 feet tall, with four faces.
All around the temple, There are eight idols of Lord Hanuman, a big idol of Lord Yama (God of death) at the gate, idols of Lord Krishna and Balarama (elder brother of Sri Krishna). The river Godavari that flows by the side also has many prominent spots having a historic significance. There is a small stream called Bhadra, which joins the river Godavari near the temple. It is believed that a lady who was an enthusiastic devotee of Lord Vishnu wanted to marry with Him. Finally, when she could not, she turned into a small stream and merged into the river Godavari in order to be with the Lord all the time. There are many such spots; some of them have a mention in the puranas while some dont.