Mattapalli Sri Rajya Lakshmi Sametha Yoga Narasimha Swami Temple

Sthala Puranam ( Temple in the legends ) :
The Maha Kshetram is in the midst of a dense and lovely forest, which instills awe and inspiration in the minds of the visiting pilgrims. In one of the caves adjoining the pilgrim town, the image of the Lord has been radiating glory from times immemorial. Legend had it that Sri Bharadwaaja Maharshi worshipped this deity everyday accompanied by several other sages. In those unknown times, only sages and gods could worship the self revealed images of Narasimha in the cave. Later the sages who had the welfare of this world at their heart, decided to throw open this holy place to the common man. An auspicious time for it came in Kali Yuga.The deity was revealed in a dream to the devotee Sri Anumala Machireddi, the ruler of Thangeda which is 3 km off Mattapalli on the opposite bank of the Krishna river. The Lord wished Machireddi to reveal his image for the good of the mankind during Kali Yuga. The ruler accompanied by his pandits, searched all the caves on the banks of river Krishna, as ordained by the Lord, but could not trace the location of the deity. Sad and depressed, he fell asleep in the forest. Again the Lord appeared in his dream and ordained him to search further, in a designated area near an "Aare" tree hidden behind the foliage in a cave. Waking up, the ruler found the cave and the image of the Lord in a seated posture, with the wellspread hood of Sesha over his head, fully adorned with Shankha Chakra Gadha and as if the Lord was being worshipped regularly, with flowers, sacred leaves, fruits etc. Overjoyed, the ruler revealed the Maha Kshetram to the general public and constructed a Mukhaalaya.