Lakshmi Narasimha Temple Mattapalli

Getting there

• By air

  For Suryapet town, the nearest airport is Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Hyderabad, 135 km by road.

• By train

  For Suryapet town, the nearest railway station is Miryalaguda, 38 km away.

• By road

  Suryapet, the district headquarters, lies on National Highway 65 between Hyderabad and Vijayawada. Mattampally is about 69 km from Suryapet.

Why devotees come here

Lakshmi Narasimha Temple stands on the bank of the Krishna River in Mattampally village, Suryapet district, Telangana. It is known for serving more than 100,000 pilgrims a day, and its main idol is a self-manifested Narasimha.

Lakshmi Narasimha Temple is one of the Pancha Narasimha Kshetras, on the bank of the Krishna River. The main shrine houses a self-manifested idol of Narasimha, worshipped as Yogananda Lakshmi Narasimha, and Lakshmi is worshipped here as Rajalakshmi Thayar and Chenchu Lakshmi Thayar. Local legend says the idol was worshipped by the sage Bharadvaja and other seers for hundreds of years in a cave. Narasimha is said to have instructed Machi Reddy to find that cave and build a temple.

Machi Reddy built the temple in the 11th century. An inscription in Devanagari script suggests it is about 1100 years old. The gopuram is three-tiered and faces east, toward the main shrine and the flagstaff. The sanctum has no path for walking around it, which sets the temple apart from others in Telangana. The temple tank is part of the Krishna River, which is also called Krishnaveni.

In 1995, Mukkur Lakshminarasimhachariar set up a Narasimha Swamy Peetham here. He held yagnas at the temple until 2000.

Festivals

• Once every 12 yearsKrishna Pushkaralu

  Mattapalli hosts this river festival, and special bathing ghats were built for it in 2016.

Tips for your visit

• The usual ritual is 32 pradakshinas around the flagstaff, the Prasanna Anjaneya Swamy shrine and the bidi leaf tree.
• The temple tank is the Krishna River itself, reached by steps on the south side of the temple.

Questions people ask