An 8th-century cave temple for Narasimha near Madurai

One among the important Vishnu temples near Madurai is in Yanaimalai, where the presiding deity is Yoga Narasimha. According to the Sthala Puranam (traditional story), Romasa Maharishi, who was childless, performed penance to Narasimha on the banks of Padma Tataka in Yanaimalai, to beget progeny. Narasimha appeared in His ferocious form that even the devas were afraid of Him. Prayers that his ferocity be abated led to Prahlada coming there, as also Mahalakshmi, who stayed on at this sacred place as Narasingavalli Thayar. Narasimha, thus pacified, blessed Romasa Maharishi for his wish to be fulfilled.

Yanaimalai, a small hill, gets its name from the Tamil words ‘yanai’, meaning elephant, and ‘malai’, meaning hill as it resembles a seated elephant. At the base of this hill is a rock-cut cave-temple for Yoga Narasimha, belonging to the Pandya era of the 8th century CE.

The huge, majestic stone image of Yoga Narasimha has been carved out of the original rock itself. The deity is in a seated yogic posture with His lower hands stretched in front and resting on the upraised knees. His upper hands hold the Sankha and Chakra. The utsava-murti (processional image) is a rare image of standing Narasimha with a lion face and four hands. Narasingavalli Thayar is worshipped in a separate sanctum inside the temple premises. A three-storey gopuram is seen at the temple’s main entrance.

Two important and historical inscriptions, one in Sanskrit inscribed in the Grantha script and the another a Tamil inscription, etched in the Vattezhuthu script are in this temple. The epigraphs, dated 770 CE, belong to the reign of King Varaguna Pandya I.

The Sanskrit inscription mentions that a person named Madhura Kavi, the son of Mara, hailing from a family of medical practitioners set up the image of God Vishnu in the cave. The Tamil inscription mentions the actual name of this minister as Marangari who was the prime minister (uttara-mantri) of the Pandyas. Marangari made this stone temple and passed away without completing it. His brother Maran Eyinan, who became the prime minister, made the mukha-mandapa and consecrated the shrine.

Yanaimalai is about 15 km from Madurai. The name of the area where this temple is located is called Narasingam, after the name of the main deity..

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