Can anyone tell me the story of the adi varaha temple in mathura,i have heard that it is mentioned in Mahabharata and varaha Purana but couldn't find the refference
2 Answers
Yes. The story found in the Varaah Puran.
In the Chapter 163 (KapilVaraahMahatmyam) of the Varaah Puran.
In short the story is,
Kapil Muni (being a devotee), creates an idol of Bhagwaan Varaah (called = Kapil Varaah Murti) using his tapas.
Later on Indra dev propitiate Kapil muni and thus Kapil-Varaah murti is given to Indra dev.
Later on Demon lord, Ravan attacks the swarg-lok and with great efforts takes the murti to Lanka in his Pushpak Viman. (initially the rakshas, Ravan couldn't even lift the idol to keep it on Pushpak Viman, thus he eulogizes the Bhagwaan and then the Lord takes on even a much smaller form, and then only is Ravan able to carry it and fly to Lanka.)
Then, when Shri Ram kills Ravan, he takes the Kapil Varaah back to Ayodhya, and after his brother, Shatrughan destroys the Lavan demon (Lavan-asur) in Mathura, Shri Ram bestows the Kapil Varaah Murti on Shatrughan, who finally establishes the idol in Mathura and hence the story.
The above mentioned story from the Varaah Puran is what is popular amongst tye local people and the sthal sources as we have in this below blog. The blog page -https://www.mathuraonline.in/city-guide/adi-varah-temple-in-mathura - gives the same story about the temple as has been attested above from the excerpt from the Varaah Puraan.
One of the oldest and self-manifest deities of Lord Varaha exists in Mathura in the Adi Varaha temple. This Deity is also called Lal Varaha because the Deity is red in colour.
According to the Adi Varaha Purana, the pastime of this Deity is that millions of years ago Kapila Muni conceived this Deity of Varaha in his mind and at once, It manifested itself before him. He worshiped Him daily.
Demigods, including Brahma, Indra, Varuna and other, would come regulary to see the beautiful form of Varaha. Indra was attracted so much to the deity that he prayed to the sage to give the responsibility of the deity to him.
Kapila muni gave the Deity to Lord Indra in Satya-yuga. Indra worshiped this Deity in his kingdom Amaravati. In Treta yug when Ravana conquered Indra’s kingdom, Ravana took the Adi Varaha Deity to his capital, in Lanka.When Lord Rama killed Ravana he installed Vibhishan on the throne of Lanka. Vibhishan offered everything at Lord Rama’s feet. Rama said he did not want anything, except the Varaha Deity that was taken from Devalok.
Vibhishan gave Rama the Deity. Sri Rama carried the Deity back to Ayodhya and worshiped the Lord there for 110 years. Later when Shatrughna, Lord Rama’s brother, went to Mathura, to fight some demons, he took the Deity with him there and the Deity has been in Mathura every since.
