The Panakala Narasimha Swamy Temple sits about two-thirds of the way up Mangalagiri Hill, reached by a long staircase from the foot. The deity here is a self-manifested form of Vishnu — Narasimha, the man-lion — in the form of a gaping mouth carved into the living rock of the cave, with no body, hands or feet.
The famous ritual involves panakam, a sweet drink of water, jaggery, ginger and cardamom. Devotees pour it into the deity's mouth through a conch shell; the deity audibly drinks about half and the rest comes back out as prasadam. Whatever the mechanism, the experience is striking, and the temple's open-mouth deity is unlike any other in India.
The climb takes about twenty minutes at an unhurried pace. Footwear must be left at the bottom. Mornings are coolest and least crowded.