Simhachalam, Lord Varaha Narasimha Temple.

The Historic Temple at the Simhachalam, built in the 11th Century, where the Lord Varaha Narasimha Swami's temple is located, resembles the rich cultural heritage Visakhapatnam holds. Located on the Hill top, at a height of 244 mts, popularly called the Hill of the Lion Lord, is the temple of Lord Vishnu in the avatara of Sri Narasimha Swami varu. This great temple built in the 11th century by the King Sri Krishnadevarayam, is one of its kind in the country. Inscriptions on the temple date back to 1098 AD.Millions of devotees from round the world visit this temple every year especially during the Chandanotsavam Festival Season. On the annual ritual Chandanotsavam day, the Lord is covered with a new fresh layer of Sandalwood.History says that Prahlada - a devotee of Lord Vishnu was being tortoured by his father.

Lord Vishnu in the avatara of Lord Nrusimha kills Prahlada's father and saves the child.Dharmapuri Sheshachari wrote the Narasimha Satakam - a collection of poems on the Lord.Reaching Simhachalam One can reach Simhachalam from almost any where in Vizag.

Reaching the Hill Top You can take up the steps path to reach to the Temple. However, if you and also take up a bus. Simhachalam Devasthanam runs Simhadri Bus Service to take you to the hill top from the foothill

Busses will be available for every 10 minutes and ticket costs Rs. 6/- per adult and Rs. 3/- for a child. The fares are nominal and is worth to go on bus if you are not a professional driver since the roads to the hill are narrow and curviest. 

Sri Sailam Lord Mallikarjuna Swamy Temple

The shrine of Lord Mallikarjuna picturesquely situated on a flat top of Nallamalai Hills, Srisailam is reputed to be one of the most ancient kshetras in India. It is on the right side of the River Krishna in Kurnool District of Andhra Pradesh. This celebrated mountain is also named as Siridhan, Srigiri, Sirigiri, Sriparvatha and Srinagam.
It has been a popular centre of Saivite pilgrimage for centuries.The prominence of this Divya Kshetram is highlighted by the fact that while performing our daily household rituals we specify place of location of our existence with reference to Srisailam.The presiding Deities of this kshetram Lord Mallikarjuna Swamy is one of the twelve Jyothirlingas and Goddess Bhramaramba Devi is one of the eighteen Mahasakthis and both are self-manifested. The unique feature of this kshetram is the combination of Jyothirlingam and Mahasakthi in one campus, which is very rare and only one of its kind.There is a common belief in vogue that this Holy Kshetram exists from times immemorial.
The antiquity and origin of God Mallikarjuna Swamy and Goddess Bhramaramba Devi is not known.The Mallikarjuna Linga is accessible to each and every devotee and anybody can go into the sanctum sanctorum of Mallikarjuna, touch him and perform Abhishekam and Archana himself to recitation of Mantras by Archakas without caste or creed or religion. This clearly reveals that socialistic pattern of society started from this place and it is still in existence.

Srikalahasti Temple

Srikalahasti Temple 
is located in the town of Srikalahasti, in the state of Andhra Pradesh,India. It is one of the most famous Shiva temples in South India, and is said to be the site where Kannappa was ready to offer both his eyes to cover blood flowing from the Sivalinga before the Lord Siva stopped him and granted him mukti.

Sri Kalahasti temple, situated 36 km away from Tirupati is famous for its Vayu linga, one of the Panchabhoota Sthalams, representing wind. The inner temple was constructed around 5th century and the outer temple was constructed in the 12th century by the Chola kings and the Vijayanagara kings. Vayu is incarnated as Lord Shiva and worshiped as Kalahasteeswara.

Veerbhadra temple- Lepakshi

Veerabhadra Temple – This Vijayanagara period temple is the biggest temple in the town. Though the direct evidences in form of inscriptions with regards to its beginning are practically nil, but many traditional legends are in vogue. As per a legend, it was constructed by Virupanna using the state treasury. The king came to know about it and announced the punishment that Virupanna to be blinded. When Virupanna heard this order, he executed it on his own on the same spot. Local guides will show you the place inside the temple where they say Virupanna threw his eyes.Pillared Mandapa around the outer prakara The temple is executed in trikuta fashion, however the third shrine dedicated to Raghunatha was added later. Originally there were two shrines sharing the same mandapa and platform, the main shrine dedicated to God Veerabhadra facing north and a lateral shrine dedicated to Lord Papanasheshvara, an aspect of Shiva. At some later point of time, another lateral shrine, opposite to that of Papanasheshvara, was added sharing the same mandapa and platform. This shrine was dedicated to Raghunatha. These three gods are also referred as Viresha, Papavinashah, Ranganatha in the inscriptions found here.

– The first reference of Lepakshi is found in Skandapurana as ‘Lepakshya-Papanasanah’ among the 108 Shaiva scared places of southern India. Sthalamahatmyam mentions that sage Agastya stayed here, in a cave on the Kurmashila hill, during his visit to scared places in the south of Vindhya mountain. He built a small temple dedicated to Papanasheshvara. This place is marked with a natural rock shelter over a hill and still revered by the locals.

The town is variably called as Lepaksha, Lepakshi, Lepakshipura in inscriptions found here. The etymology of the name, Lepakshi, is not very certain. Gopala Rao suggests that it could be Lepa + Akshi meaning ‘embalmed eye’. Few locals try to assign it with the eyes of a figure in a painting inside the Veerbhadra temple however the paintings are of very late period in comparison to the name of the town. The place was known as Lepakshi even before the construction of the temple as the father of Virupanna (Virapanna) is referred as Lepakshi Nandi-Lakkisetti in an inscription.

It is hard to derive the importance of this place during the ancient times. It is located not very far from Siddapura, Jatinga Rameshvar, Brahmagiri, Yerragudi, all places connected to the Mauryan emperor Ashoka. This suggests that Lepakshi was under the Mauryan rule and from them it passed to the Satavahanas. After the fall of the Satavahanas, it came under the Chutus, the Gangas, the Chalukyas of Badami, the Nolambas in respective order. The Nolambas were in possession of it till the 10th century CE.