Narasimha (Sanskrit: नरसिंह, lit. 'man-lion', IAST: Narasiṃha), sometimes rendered Narasingha, is the fourth avatar of the Hindu god Vishnu. In Sanskrit, the word Narasimha consists of two words "nara" which means man, and "simha" which means lion, referring to a man-lion avatar of Vishnu. Additionally, the word "Singha" is often used in place of "Simha" which also means lion in Sanskrit and other Indian languages.

 

 He is believed to have incarnated in the form of a part-lion, part-man being to kill Hiranyakashipu, to end religious persecution and calamity on earth, thereby restoring dharma. Narasimha is often depicted with three eyes, and is described in Vaishnavism to be the God of Destruction; he who destroys the entire universe at the time of the great dissolution (Mahapralaya). Hence, he is known as Kala (time) or Mahakala (great-time), or Parakala (beyond time) in his epithets. There exists a matha (monastery) dedicated to him by the name of Parakala Matha at Mysuru in the Sri Vaishnava tradition. Narasimha is also described as the God of Yoga, in the form of Yoga-Narasimha.

 

Narasimha iconography shows him with a human torso and lower body, with a leonine face and claws, typically with the asura Hiranyakashipu being disembowelled and killed by him in his lap. The asura king was the powerful elder brother of the evil Hiranyaksha, who had been previously killed by Vishnu as Varaha, and thus hated the latter. Hiranyakashipu gained a boon from Brahma due to which he could not be killed during the day or night, inside or outside the house; neither in the sky nor on land nor in Svarga nor in Patala, by any weapon, nor by humans, deities, demons, or animals. Endowed with this boon, he began to wreak chaos and havoc, persecuting all the devotees of Vishnu, including his own son Prahlada. Vishnu, cognisant of the asura's boon, creatively assumed a hybrid form that was neither human nor animal as a lion in the name of Narasimha, and Narashima disembowelled and killed Hiranyakashipu and at the junction of day and night, at the threshold of his palace, which was neither inside nor the outside, upon his lap, and with his claws. Narasimha is known primarily as the 'Great Protector' who specifically defends and protects his devotees from evil. The most popular Narasimha myth is the legend of his protection of his devotee Prahlada, and the killing of Prahlada's wicked father and demon Hiranyakashipu.

 

Narasimha is one of the major deities in Vaishnavism, and his legends are revered in Vaikhanasas, Sri Vaishnavism, Sadha Vaishnavism, and various other Vaishnava traditions of Hinduism. He is celebrated in many regional Hindu temples, texts, performance arts, and festivals such as the Hindu festival of colours of the spring, called Holi.

 

One of the earliest representation of Narasimha, dating back to the 4th-century CE, is from Kondamotu in Coastal Andhra. Other older known artworks of Narasimha have been found at several sites across Uttar Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh, such as at the Mathura archaeological site. These have been variously dated between the 2nd and the 4th century CE.

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