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Srimad payonidhi nikethana chakra pane
Bhogeendra Bhoga mani rajitha punya moorthe
Yogeesha shaswatha sharanya Bhabdhi potha
Lakshmi Nrsimha Mama Dehi Karavalambam

[excerpted from Sri Adi Shankaracharya’s Lakshmi-Nrsimha Karavalamba Stotra]

Meaning: Oh Great God Lakshmi Nrsimha, Who lives in the ocean of milk, Who holds the holy wheel as weapon, Who wears the gems on the head, Of Adhishesha as ornaments, Who has the form of good and holy deeds, Who is the permanent protector of sages, And who is the boat which helps us to cross, This ocean of misery called life, Please give me the protection of your hands.

Location: 45 km to the south of Chennai close to Chengalpattu, Kanchipuram District, Tamilnadu.
How to Reach:

Nearest Railway Station : Singaperumal Koil Chennai-
Chengalpattu Section.

Nearest Airport : Chennai -50 kms

Nearest Seaport : Chennai - 60 kms

Nearest N.H./S.H. : NH 4. (Bus Service 60 C.)

Best to drive in an airconditioned tourist car from Chennai to Singaperumal Koil starting early in the morning, and depending on the time spent there, one can return before lunch, back to the hotel, as very nearby there is another temple dedicated to Devanathaswamy.

Singaperumal Koil is is over 1,500 years old. It is also known as the Pataladri Temple, because here Narasimha is in his Ugra Roopa. According to "Brahmanda Puranam" the temple was surrounded by a big forest where Sage Jabali was doing penance praying to the Lord to appear before him. The legend has it that at the request of Sage Jabali, Narasimha, Singaperumal or the Lion God, manifested himself immediately after he packed off Hiranyakashyapu to the nether world.

The Lord even now gives darshan to the devotees in the same form with four hands, two of them holding Sudarsana and Panchajanya and the third in "Abaya Hastha" pose with the fourth pointing towards the earth. Found in sitting posture the Lord has three eyes, and wears the Salagrama and Sahasranama garlands. The Goddess here is known as Ahobilavalli.

What is so unique about this Lord in Singaperumal Koil? Here he proves to the Universe that both Hari and Hara is one and the same and not separate. Here the Lord has a Third Eye, like Rudramoorthy and every time the temple priests perform the Arathi or Deeparadhana, the Namam of Narasimhaswamy is lifted up for the devotees to have a darshan of the Third Eye.

In the Narasimha Avatara, Mahavishnu destroyed evil, and it is believed by both the Vaishnavaites and the Saivites that if one gets the darshan of the Third Eye, all misery in life would be removed.

It is a beautiful temple, on a hillock, with the fairly large idol carved out of a single red coloured boulder. The Pataladri Narasimha-swamy is almost 8 feet tall, and red faced.

Since the idol is part of a boulder and the hillock, if one needs to circumambulate one need to do the girivalam meaning go around the hillock. As in most other temples of Tamilnadu there is also a wish-fulfilling tree, the Mandapa and the Bali Peedam.

So, you have had a darshan of the Lion God, you have done the girivalam and now you start feeling hungry. Do not despair. The prasadam here is dosa, and podi, sold inside the temple premises. Have your fill, pay them the cost and both your mind and stomach is filled. One with food and the other with spiritualism.

According to the Vaishnava Sampradaya, there are about 13 other Sannidhis for Sri Narasimha Perumal in Tamilnadu besides
Singaperumal Koil. A number of them are part of the 108 Divya Desams or are in one of the Divya Desams.

Festivals: Brahmotsavam is on from June 2, beginning with "Angurarpanam" and "Dwajarohanam." .On June 5, the Lord, mounted on Garuda Vahanam, will be taken in a procession in the morning and on the Hanumantha Vahanam in the evening.

Sunday evening will find the deity going round on the elephant mount to the accompaniment of fireworks. The temple car will roll out in all its splendour the next morning and the festival will conclude with "Theerthavari" on June 11.

Special "Thirumanjanam" will be performed to the Moolavar idol in the morning on June 12 and the Lord will be taken in procession in golden "Tholukkiniyan" in the evening.

"Vidaayetri" will follow, held for three days from June 13.

[Note: Above information on festivals unverified. Please do check with the Tamilnadu Tourism Development Corporation.]

Festivals are held almost every month in the temple, which is under the control of the HR and CE Department. The temple looks spotlessly clean after the renovation and consecration on May 10, last year.