নৃসিংহ জয়ন্তী

About নৃসিংহ জয়ন্তী

Significance

Narasimha Jayanti marks the appearance of Vishnu as Narasimha, the man-lion, to protect his young devotee Prahlada and end the tyranny of Prahlada’s father, the daitya king Hiranyakashipu. Narasimha is the fourth of the ten principal avataras in the common lists, and the day is kept with particular devotion in Vaishnava traditions.

The Bhagavata Purana (Canto 7, chapters 3 to 10) tells how Hiranyakashipu won from Brahma a boon that he could be killed by neither man nor beast, neither by day nor by night, neither inside nor outside, neither on the ground nor in the sky, and by no weapon; how he persecuted Prahlada for his devotion to Vishnu; and how Narasimha burst from a pillar of the assembly hall and slew him at dusk, in the doorway, upon his lap, with his claws. The Narasimha Purana and the Vishnu Purana also tell Prahlada’s story, and Prahlada’s hymns of praise are recited on this day.

How and where it is observed

The day is kept across India, with the largest celebrations at Narasimha temples such as Ahobilam and Mangalagiri in Andhra Pradesh, Simhachalam near Visakhapatnam, Yadagirigutta in Telangana and Melkote in Karnataka, where Sri Vaishnava and Madhva communities observe it closely. Gaudiya Vaishnava communities, among them ISKCON, keep it as Narasimha Chaturdashi.

Rituals

Devotees commonly fast until dusk, the hour of the appearance, and the main worship, abhisheka and offerings follow in the evening. In South Indian temples and homes panakam, a cooling drink of jaggery, water, pepper and cardamom, is a favoured offering in the hot season, and the Narasimha Kavacha and the Bhagavata chapters on Prahlada are recited; some temples enact the story. The fast is broken after the evening worship or, in some traditions, the next morning.

How the date is fixed

Narasimha Jayanti is Vaishakha Shukla Chaturdashi, the same month in Amanta and Purnimanta reckoning. As the appearance was at dusk, the Chaturdashi must prevail at Pradosh, the evening period from sunset lasting a fifth of the night. If it covers Pradosh on one evening only, that day is kept. If it covers Pradosh on two evenings, the later, Purnima-joined day is taken, by the tithi-yugma rule of Nirnaya Sindhu that pairs Chaturdashi with Purnima; if on neither, the day on which Chaturdashi prevails longest.

Sources

• Bhagavata Purana, Canto 7, chapter 8: Narasimha slays Hiranyakashipu
• Narasimha Purana (Prahlada and Narasimha)
• Nirnaya Sindhu, tithi-yugma rule (quoting Garuda Purana 1.128.16-17)
• Encyclopaedia Britannica: Narasimha

Customs differ between regions, communities and families; this description is background, not a prescription. The date above is calculated by the rule shown on this page.