The performances and festivals are also classified into daily, weekly, fortnightly, monthly, and annual ones. The utsavas are divided into two categories: those governed by the Agama texts and the ones regulated by the customs and traditions (sishtachara).
Except for Kumara Punnami, almost all the utsavas are celebrated even today. The festivals are referred to with the name utsavas. Majority of the donations made to the Simhachalam temple are related to the conduction of festivals. In 1949, the temple came under the purview of the state government and is currently administered by the Simhachalam Devasthanam Board. The temple underwent 40 years of religious inactivity from 1564 AD to 1604 AD. It later received patronage from many royal families, of which Tuluva dynasty of Vijayanagara Empire is a notable one.
In the later half of the 13th century, the temple complex underwent radical physical changes during the reign of the Eastern Ganga king Narasimhadeva I. The temple has been recognised by historians with the help of a 9th-century AD inscription by the Chalukya Chola king Kulottunga I. It was regarded as an important centre of Vaishnavism in the medieval period along with Srikurmam and others. Simhachalam is one of the 32 Narasimha temples in Andhra Pradesh which are important pilgrimage centres.
Except on Akshaya Tritiya, the idol of Varaha Narasimha is covered with sandalwood paste throughout the year, which makes it resemble a Shiva Lingam. As per the temple's legend (which is divided into 32 chapters), Vishnu manifested in this peculiar form, with a boar head, human torso and a lion's tail, after saving his devotee Prahlada from a murder attempt by the latter's father Hiranyakashipu.
It is dedicated to one of the Hindu trinity deities Vishnu, who is worshipped there as Varaha Narasimha. The Shri Varaha Lakshmi Narasimha temple, Simhachalam is a South Indian Hindu temple situated on the Simhachalam hill, which is 800 metres above the sea level at a distance of ten miles to the north of Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh.
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