The god in the Ahobila temple is called 'Malolan'. Can someone with the knowledge of Sanskrit enlighten me on what the word means?
2 Answers
It means "beloved of Lakshmi" as described in the official website of Ahobilam Matam:
Nearly two kilometres from the main temple of Upper Ahobilam, is the famous shrine of Malola Narasimha Swamy. The deity here appears in 'soumya' (graceful) form. As Lord Narasimha is seen with his consort, Lakshmi, He is known as Malola Narasimha Swamy. The word 'Malola' means beloved to Lakshmi (Ma=Lakshmi, Lola= beloved). It is said that the 'utsavamoorthi' of the Lord appeared to Srimath Adivan Satakopa Jeeyar, the first Jeeyar of Ahobila Mutt. Right from the founder, i.e., the first Jeeyar of Ahobila Mutt down to the 44th pontiff, Srivan Satakopa Sri Vedanta Desika Yatheendra Mahadesika, the present jeeyar, the utsavamoorthi of Malola Narasirnha Swamy is worshipped and it is taken by them whenever they are on religious tours, visiting the villages every year. Recently, the 45th Jeeyar Srivan Satakopa Sri Narayana Yatheendra Mahadesikan has taken over the worship.
Mal (மால்) is a Tamil word for Sriman Narayana who is always seen with a garland and Olan is a Tamil word meaning single or one. This word Malolan means One Narayana all words in south India need not be Sanskrit Words as the entire south India was once full of Tamils (Telugu,Kannada & Malayalam are recent languages only). An example to support this claim is the word "Konkini" is a language spoken by Konkan Region in Karnataka. This was derived from Tamil word "KoN KaNam" meaning very dense/cruel forest.