A Sacred Drive from Hyderabad to Jharni Narasimha Cave Temple in Bidar, Karnataka in 2008

A Story from my Old Travel Diary - Recollection of a Family Traveler's trip to the Cave Temple in Bidar, Karnataka

In 2008, we (three friendly families) went on a road trip to Jharni Narasimha Cave temple which is nestled inside a cave in the historic city of Bidar in Karnataka.

Hyderabad-Bidar Road Trip

We were three families from different locations in Hyderabad. All started our long drives early in the morning in our cars. It was early morning and the roads were clean and calm making our drive easier and faster. We moved on the highway enjoying the early morning cool breeze and watching the morning sun casting its golden hues on the road. We drove through calm villages, stretches of open lands and bustling towns. We didn't even know how the time melted when the male members stopped the car at a roadside dhaba for a hot cup of chai. By then it was around 7.30 a.m and still there was morning calmness all around. Two of the families were with children who made the trip lively with their mischiefs with frequent halts of their cars and getting down just to enjoy the morning meadows. The warmth of friendship made every moment feel like home on wheels. At around 9 a.m we again halted to have homemade breakfast.
At this place, we came across a heart-touching scene. After breakfast when we were washing our hands near the bushes, at first we ran away on seeing a big langur near the bushes. Later we came to know that the langur was badly injured, may be due to severe hit by some speeding vehicle. The langur was yelling in pain. The pathetic scene touched our hearts and the male members offered some water and food items to the langur which took water but couldn't take eatables. We wanted to rescue the poor injured animal but we were helpless as we were with kids and an elderly lady. It was a pre-smartphone era and there was no immediate on-call road side assistance in those days. We couldn't do anything except praying Sri Hanuman ji to take care of this poor animal and moved ahead.

We drove with heavy hearts feeling sorry for the poor langur. We then had a small discussion on road trips and the reckless driving of some over enthusiastic road trippers who don't care for the harm they cause to such poor and dumb animals. Anyways we tried to divert our mind from the poor langur.

Arrival at Jharni Narasimha Swamy Cave temple

After a long drive of 4 hours as we entered Bidar and reached our destination - the Jharni Narasimha Swamy temple. The place was serene with natural beauty far far away from the maddening crowd.

About the Temple

The sacred temple of Sri Jharni Narasimha is located inside a cave of the Manichoola hill range which is rich in vegetation and is nearly a kilometre way from Bidar. The cave is filled with a perennial stream with about 4 feet deep water that runs up to 300 metres. Due to this unique feature of stream of water inside the cave, it is known as Jharni Narasimha Cave Temple. The meaning of the Sanskrit (Hindi) word 'Jharna' is 'stream' / 'waterfall'. The temple enshrines a small idol of Narasimha Swamy, the 4th avataram of Sri Maha Vishnu's Dasavataram, on the wall at the end of the cave which is a Swayambhoo idol which is in fact an architectural wonder.

The Sacred Spring and Sthalapuram

The perennial waist-deep stream inside the cave temple is the most remarkable feature. Devotees have to wade through the stream to reach the deity which is believed to be the place where Sri Narasimha Swamy appeared to sage Jabali. The divnely spring water flowing through the temple is considered sacred.

As per Puranas, after killing Hiranyakashipu, Sri Narasimha Swamy came to this place to kill another asura named Jalasura. He was a great devotee of Shiva, so he was blessed to transform into perennial water stream and cleansing himself by touching the feet of Sri Narasimha.

The temple of Sri Jharni Narasimha is timeless which is believed to be existed even before Treta yuga and so is considered highly sacred. On the wall at the end of the cave, there is the 'Swayambhu idol of Sri Narasimha and a Sivalingam which was worshipped by Jalasura.
We came to know about the temple from one of the friends who too has no proper info about the temple. For safer side, we were told to carry one extra set of clothes. We reached the temple at around 11 a.m. Normally, there are rows of shops on either side of the road leading to the temple gopuram but at this place there are very few small shops selling some local stuffs. (This was in 2008, hope it is developed now). On reaching the entrance, we walked down few steps barefoot and reached a small shrine of Ganesha. We did prarthana and bought tickets for ksheerabhishekam - worshipping Sri Narasimha by pouring milk on the main idol. From this point devotees are regularised and sent in small groups as there is no enough space inside the cave and near the main idol. As we went down few more steps, I had a stunning view of the perennial stream of water inside a cave which I haven't seen anywhere else.

As we walked along the cool stony paths, the sound of flowing water was echoing softly in the background. At this point we took turns to step down into the cool water. OMG! it was so scary yet adventurous, I held my husband tightly and with great difficulty waded through the water inside the cave which was getting deeper and deeper as we move inside. The water level was almost upto my shoulder level and for my husband it was upto chest level. The other two families took their children their shoulders and started wading through the stream inside the cave. On the way, we came across other devotees who were returning / wading through the water.
After that thrilling experience of wading through cave waters taking several serpentine turns, nearly 7 turns, we finally reached the sanctum at the end of the cave where we saw a small idol of Sri Narasimha radiating divinity. A pujari was sitting in front of the idol and was performing ksheerabhishekam for those who bought tickets. The Mool Virat idol of Sri Narasimha is on a rock which is the end of the cave. The rock is at a height forming a small platform where devotees can stand and have the darshan of Sri Narasimha. Only 6 to 8 people can stand here at a time and once this group of people return, then only the next group is allowed to step up the platform near the main idol.

As we bought ksheerabhishekam ticket, I and my husband sat in front of the main idol and the pujari performed puja with gotra namalu. We need not carry the milk but it will be brought by the temple staff only. After performing the abhishekam, we once again waded back through the stream feeling energized with divine blessings. We silently wading back through the water which was really something different and with a sense of something beyond explanation.

After darshan, we took few clicks near the temple entrance and then had some veg food at a nearby dhaba that was simple yet satisfying. As we drove back, I felt it was not just a religious experience for me but was a timeless memorable moment.

Reflections

A trip to Jharni Narasimha Temple was not just visiting a sacred temple but it was a wonderful experience of rediscovering the ancient secrets and completely immersing the divinity with spiritual elevation.