Important Notice

Bronze
15th Century

Vijayanagar Dynasty
Karnataka

Height: 9.1 in (23 cms)


Narasimha is shown seated in the 'Utkutika' (yogic pose) posture on a double lotus pedestal with legs crossed and maintained in a raised position by a band of cloth (yoga-patta) encircling the back and legs and tied in a tight knot. He is normally shown with four arms holding a conch and charka, the attributes of Vishnu in the upper hands, while the two hands infront are stretched forward and placed on the knees. Narasimha personifies fury in its terrible aspect, which is very obvious from the sculpture.

The rendering of the arms and fingers in particular is extremely beautiful especially for their tenderness and realistic delineation. Vijayanagar sculptures are more ornate and have more details and intricacies than Chola sculpture. This is a good representation of the Vijayanagar School.

The Story of Narasimha

Narasimha, or half man and half lion, is the fourth incarnation of Vishnu, the God of preservation. He was designed to free the world from the depredations of the demon king Hiranyakasipu, who like his brother Hiranyaksha, had obtained a boon from Brahma. The boon granted immunity from attacks from any human, beast or God; he also had Brahma's assurance that he could be killed neither by day nor by night, neither inside nor outside his house. Protected by this immunity Hiranyakasupu over-reached himself. He forbade worship of all Gods and substituted it for worship of himself. He was therefore particularly incensed to discover that his own son Prahalada remained an ardent devotee of Vishnu. Hiranyakasipu tried persuasion and even torture to dissuade him, but Prahlada refused to give up his worship of Vishnu. Hiranyakasipu finally ordered serpents to bite him to death. But Prahlada was unaffected and the serpents fell into feverish disarray, their fangs broken and fear in their hearts. Vast elephants were sent against Prahlada, he was thrown over precipices, and even submerged underwater. But all to no avail. Hiranyakasipu still could not kill his son. Prahlada claimed that Vishnu was omnipresent. The demon King, in exasperation at his son's repeated assertion pointed out to a pillar in the doorway of his palace and demanded to know if Vishnu was there inside it. Prahlada declared that he certainly was, whereupon Hiranyakasipu said that he would then kill him. He thin kicked the pillar with his gigantic foot. At this juncture, Vishnu stepped out of the pillar taking the form of Narasimha, a creature who was half-man and half- lion and tore Hiranyakasipu to pieces. The circumstances of Hiranyakasipu's death fell outside the conditions of Brahma's boon, for the time was twilight - neither day nor night, the place was a doorway of the palace - neither inside nor outside, and the assailant was a man-lion, hence neither human, nor beast nor God.

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