Old Patterns in New Contexts: Negotiating the Concept of the Nine Narasimhas of Ahobilam in Contemporary Visual and Textual Media

Abstract

The Vaishnava center of Narasiṃha worship in Ahobilam (current Andhra Pradesh) is renowned for its unique, local concept of the Nine Narasiṃhas, reflected materially in nine temples built within the boundaries of its sacred space, or, more abstractly, in the traditional and powerful toponym navanarasimhakshetra (‘the field of the Nine Narasiṃhas’). The nine individual aspects of Narasiṃha and natural locations where they reside are described in the Ahobilamāhātmya, an undated Sanskrit text that glorifies Ahobilam, which most likely initiated the trend of associating the center primarily with the ninefold nature of the deity. In this presentation, I will examine how, as a result of dynamic historical, religious, and social changes, the concept of the Nine Narasiṃhas is currently being negotiated and reinterpreted by various communities associated with the center, primarily through the use of modern media, such as contemporary māhātmyas or religious visual materials (e.g., printed postcards depicting local aspects of Narasiṃha available at temple stalls, or pictorial signboards/maps illustrating the religious topography of the site).