From Kāñcīpuram to Ahobilam and Back: Narasiṃha Chasing the Demons in the Kāñcīmāhātmya 3

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to discuss the reasons behind mapping three sites of Narasiṃha worship (Kāñcī, Ahobilam, Ghaṭikādri) in terms of the 3rd chapter of the Vaiṣṇavaoriented Kāñcīmāhātmya. Textual analysis of the Narasiṃha myth of the text reveals that it has been inspired by various local narrations related to the places located on the route sketched by the deity’s travels. The most effective means of connecting these places is the mythical narrative on Narasiṃha’s race after the demons, which frames the story and hence unifies single episodes inspired by appropriate local traditions. The purpose of such a literary technique is to produce a certain area that for some reasons was, or was intended to be, important for its inhabitants. Remarkably, maintaining the Andhra-bounded motif of Narasiṃha, who kills Hiraṇyakaśipu at Ahobilam, the furthest destination on the route, makes this particular site an indispensable and especially meaningful spot on the KM 3 literary map. Since the demarcated territory transgresses in a way the land of the Tamils, the paper also attempts to determine whether the particular version of the Narasiṃha myth in the KM 3 may reflect the religious and political reality of South India under the rule of Vijayanagara kings, i.e. after the 14th century.