salvation and requested Krishnamacharyulu to ask Narasimha about the same. He obeyed and asked Narasimha, to which the deity replied that Ramanuja is capable of giving salvation to others and hence can gain the same later. Krishnamacharyulu requested Narasimha to grant him salvation. To teach him a lesson, Narasimha refused, saying that Ramanuja is the only one capable one to do so. Krishnamacharyulu was offended and cursed that the temple would be attacked in the upcoming days. It is believed that the attack on the temple in the 18th century by Muslim invaders was a result of the curse. Though this legend is considered imaginary, it is respected widely for emphasising the importance of teachers and spiritual masters over the divine. History Simhachalam temple has a past of nearly a thousand years. Epigraphists discovered nearly 500 inscriptions in the temple complex. Almost all of them were dana sasanas (donation records) which referred to the contributions made by the kings, their officers, and the citizens. Majority of the inscriptions are bilingual, written in Sanskrit and Telugu languages. While some are exclusively in Sanskrit, there are 46 Odia and three Tamil language inscriptions. As per the common acceptance of historians, Simhachalam temple has been recognised in the 11th century CE due to an inscription by the Chola king Kulottunga I. The earliest inscription discovered in the temple, it belonged to the 11th century and was dated to 1087 CE. It recorded the gift of a garden by a private individual. The temple functioned well during this period and received liberal patronage from the Later Cholas. After the Later Cholas, the Eastern Ganga dynasty extended their patronage for the promotion and preservation of the temple complex. Their inscriptions ranges from 1150 AD to 1430 CE. In the later half of the 13th century, the temple complex underwent radical physical changes during the reign of Narasimhadeva I. Many additional architectural adjuncts were added to the temple which had a simple and modest look. An inscription dated 1293 CE refers to the addition of sub shrines by the Gangas in the temple, which were dedicated to manifestations of Vishnu: Vaikunthanatha, Yagnavaraha, and Madhavadevara. The renovators used the original slabs as much as possible and discarded a few of them. The removed ones were later used in the kitchen and other small shrines. The feudatory chiefs of the Ganga dynasty too contributed towards the temple's architecture