Basha – a Muslim devotee – was our guide; Rocky the rottweiler dog was our room guardian; Lord Nrsimha was our worshipable deity; and Ahobilam was the Holy place where we would stay for the next four days.
I read many stories about Lord Nrsimha, but visiting places of His pastimes is a whole different experience.
Ahobilam is a quiet place with two or three guesthouses, a few family shops and simple village huts where locals reside. That is the only holy place I have seen with more temples than shops or hotels! There are nine main temples in Ahobilam; four in lower Ahobilam and five in upper Ahobilam.
To visit those temples, we needed to walk in the jungle, through tiger and wild bear territory. Some temples are high in the mountains and can only be reached by climbing hundreds of stairs. A few temples are deep in the forest, hidden in the caves where the Lord has been worshipped for thousands of years.
Local Brahmana families take care of the worship and are very hospitable. They freely give blessings, share prasadam and love to speak about Lord Nrsimha. All of them are experts in chanting mantras and performing worship.
If there is any other place where I can see myself serving beside my temple, that would be Ahobilam. Fresh air, plenty of sun, forests and a simple life, far away from management and politics.
Our spiritual teachers and the scriptures teach us that we should not aspire to stay in a secluded place and focus only on our spiritual progress. Only a few rare souls can remain undisturbed and fully absorbed in sadhana. Better than that is to sacrifice our comfort to assist others to make spiritual advancement.
As I was leaving Ahobilam I remembered the prayer from Prahlad Maharaj:
Srimad Bhagavatam 7.9.44- My dear Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva, I see that there are many saintly persons indeed, but they are interested only in their own deliverance. Not caring for the big cities and towns, they go to the Himalayas or the forest to meditate with vows of silence [mauna-vrata]. They are not interested in delivering others. As for me, however, I do not wish to be liberated alone, leaving aside all these poor fools and rascals. I know that without Kṛṣṇa consciousness, without taking shelter of Your lotus feet, one cannot be happy. Therefore I wish to bring them back to shelter at Your lotus feet.
Ananta Gopal Das
24.04.2024
Bhakti Wisdom 