We offer our prayers to Lord. We stand in front of the deity and pray, but we should have absolute faith in Him. Only then our prayers are answered. To develop faith in Him, we try. Mere trying will not do, but doing will do the miracle. Have absolute faith in Him and surrender yourself to Him, Saranakatha is what the life of Bhaktha Prahalad imparts to us.
Prahalad - the son of Hiranyakasyap - had absolute faith in God; there was not even an iota of doubt in his mind that the Parabrahma exists and exists everywhere. He believed that the very existence of the universe is an act of the God - whereas his father believed otherwise. When challenged by Hiranyakasyap to prove the existence of Parabrahma, Prahlad said that the God exists in every atom and even in subatomic particles. On hearing this Hiranyakasyap retorts and asks Prahlad as to whether the God is in the pillar nearby. Prahlad replies that the God is not only in the pillar but also in the very words uttered by Hiranyakasyap and also in the sound of those words. [Look at the absolute faith the Bhakta Prahalad had on Him.] Angered by this and with a view to proving Prahlad wrong Hiranyakasyap hits the pillar with his mace so as to break it. Lord Vishnu takes the form of Narasimha ie. Half in the form of Nara [man] and half in the form of Simha [Lion] and comes out of the pillar and kills Hiranyakasyap - the Rakshasa.
When Hiranyakasyap had tried to kill Prahalad by rolling him from mountain, when brought under the feet of the elephant etc., the God had protected him. But why then the Narasimha avtar of Vishnu in ugra [angered] form? Was it taken to avenge the sufferings of true and faithful at the hands of Hiranyakasyap [representing the evil forces]? Yes, but there is more to it. He took the roopa of Narasimha to prove that the absolute faith should not be failed. While He had taken the rest of the Dasa avatharas after due consideration and deliberation, the Narasimha avtar is considered to have been taken on the kshana (micro second), and even before His consort Sri Devi came to know of it.
When Bhaktha Prahalad had seen Lord Narasimha in the ugra he starts praying to Him to mellow down. The prayers of His Bhaktha mellows down the lord. In the mean time, the devathas had to seek the help of Sri Devi to make Narasimha a santha swaroopi.
Sri Devi descends on earth to see the ugramoorthi and mellow Him down. Alas! Sri Devi could see only a mellowed Narasimha moorthi. She undertakes penance to see Him as Ugra Narasimha moorthi and enters the nearby tank full of lotus. The 'kamalaya tank' is said to be in the place called Namakkal in Tamil Nadu. It is interesting to know how that place got the name 'Namakkal'.
Lord Anjaneya the devotee of Lord Rama, is another absolute faithful. He had been in service of his master Lord Rama then. While Anjaneya was taking bath in the Kantaki River in Nepal he had a divine direction to carry the Saleegramam - a rare fossil stone, found normally in Nepal, down South and he had been asked not to put the Saleegramam down in the earth. [Saligramam is a rare fossil stone, found normally in Nepal and it is supposed to represent Hari in the Pujas.] He had picked up the fossil stone and was flying Southward. When the evening Sandya time came he wanted to offer his prayers to his guru Lord Surya. He was looking for the pond and found the Kamalaya tank of Namakal. As he was directed not to keep the Saleegramam stone down in the earth, he requests Sri Devi to keep the Saleegramam with her till he finishes his santhyavandhanam and hands over the fossil stone to her. Time passed by and Anjaneya returned to pickup the Saleegramam, Sri Devi had placed the Saleegramam down on the earth.
Before anybody knew what had happened, the Saleegramam started growing big. Anjaneya after his prayer came to know of what had happened from Sri Devi. Not knowing what to do Anjaneya tries to lift the Saleegramam with the knot of his tail. Alas! The Saleegramam broke and Lord Narashimha in Ugra form gave dharshan to Anjaneya and Sri Devi. Lord said to Anjaneya that the penance of Sri Devi had ended because of the Saleegramam brought by him represented Hari in Ugra Narashima form. That the place will be henceforth been known as 'Namakkal' ('Namagiri' in Sanskrit), since the Saleegramam had turned into a mountain here.
The Lord Narashima in the main deity of the cave temple atop the hill which is in the middle of this town Namakkal. The Lord Narashima is facing west sitting with his right leg placed to the ground, and His left leg is placed on the right thigh. The sharpness of the 'vajra naka' with which Lord had performed the Hiranya samhara is worth noting. Sri Jankan is standing on His left and Sri Sanadhan on to His right and telling the Lord about the "Lokashama" in His ears. On to his left Siva, and on to His right Brahma is seen pleading with the Lord to mellow down. This is very rare to see the Trimurthis in one place. This place is also known by the name 'Trimurthi Sthala'. Though Lord is seen in ugra form here He is Lord Lakshmi Narashima since it is the place where Sri Devi is also present after her penance.
Since the Saleegramam had turned into a mountain open to sky Anjaneya is in Digambara temple with anjalihasta facing and worshiping Lord Lakshmi Narashima and the Saleegramam. The Anjaneya in this kshethra is eighteen feet tall and is having dharshan of the Lord Lakshmi Narashima who is about 250 feet away. The wonder of this dharshan is that the eye of Anjaneya is in straight line with the patha [lotus feet] of Lord Lakshmi Narashima. One could witness Anjaneya having the dharshan of Lord's Lotus feet from the Garudalwar sannathi even today. The imprint of the footsteps of Anjaneya Swami is seen in the Kamalalam tank steps.
Namakkal Town is the Hq. of the Namakkal district, which is extensively covered with hilly ranges and rocks of the Kollimalai range of hills which runs along the east of Nammakkal.
The State Archeological Survey opines that the cave temples were constructed by Adhiyaman rulers who ruled over Kongu Nadu, and the cave sculptures were engraved by Gunasila Adhiya Kula, King during 7th Century.
The Lord Anjaneya who had ended the penance of Sri Devi and got Her the glimpses of the Lord Narashima, and having dharshan of His Patharavindha is waiting for us. In this kshethra He will award us with end of our penance of this janma and to have dharshan of his Lord's Patharavindha.
[ed.07.03.02]
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SRI HANUMAN THINKS DIFFERENTLY, THINKS FAST, THINKS AHEAD AND ACTS FOR SURE.
Our salutations to this Hanuman who always brings subham - everything that is good - for His devotees and eliminates the bad and the evil. He removes even the traces of bad thoughts and deeds from His devotees. i.e He makes them pure in words, thought and deed.