The divine sport of Lord Mahavishnu is displayed to our joy through His incarnations. His wonderful enactments and exploits have mesmerised the poets, artists and the devotees alike. The Puranas, Itihasas and other innumerable scriptures tirelessly describe His magnificence. Each of His Avataara may it be Archaa or Vibhava is a subject of appreciation and an object of adoration. This rich legacy is to be recorded for posterity time and again. The seminar was thought in these lines and it was successful in collating information on different aspects of Lord's glory.
The National seminar was held at CIIL, Mysore for three days from 22-24 September in 2007. Now the proceedings are being brought out in the form of a book with contents and illustrations. It is thought that this would find the interest of keen readers. Many people have contributed in different capacities for this seminar and publication. I would also thank Sri Mahadeva Prasad, the then Minister of Kannada and Culture, Government of Karnataka, for his august presence. I humbly express my salutations to Dr. Bhashyam Swamiji the then Director of the Academy for his keen initiative to organize such a seminar. It is also my foremost duty to thank Dr. G.B. Deglurkar, Chancellor, Deccan College, Pune, a deemed University, for delivering his Presidential address and active participation. I express my sincere gratitude to then Director CIIL Mysore for the hospitality and accommodation to conduct the seminar. It is my pleasure to thank Dr. R. Gopal, the then Director, Directorate of Archaeology and Museums, Mysuru who was our guest of honour for the inaugural session.
Lord Narasimha is one of the most popular Deities of Hinduism. He is an Avatara of Lord Visnu one of the Triumvirate of Hindu religion. Avarara or incarnation is cordial tenet of Hindu religious system. When there is violence, torture and anarchy in the world due to sinful deeds or torture by demons or evil spirit God Visnu descends on earth and protects the people by eliminating the source of trouble. He restores equilibrium on earth. At the same time he upholds the superiority of the ethical principle in human life. Though it is generally believed that there are only ten Avataras of Lord Visnu there is no such limitation, he can appear any number of times at any place to bring about peace and stability in the world.
Though Lord Narasimha is the fourth Avatara of Sri Visnu, he is one of the most popular deities in Hindu theology. Narasimha is the embodiment of the fundamental law of Omnipresence of Lord Visnu who controls Sristi (creation, sustenance and destruction). He is everywhere and nothing can happen without His knowledge. The shape and form of Lord Narasimha has great significance. Narasimha is the combination of Man and Lion where man is the crown of creation and lion being the best of animals. The emergence of Narasimha as an Avatara points to the view that He is omnipresent and omniscient. The emergence of Narasimha is an embodiment of valour and sympathy. He is held in great esteem by kings and warriors. His devotees worship him to evade evil and destroy the enemies.
The story of Lord Narasimha is most exciting. As a popular god of faith He is worshiped by people of various religious groups, cults, and ideologies. Bards sing devotional songs, poets write verses on him and sculptors carve out magnificent idols of Lord Narasimha in various poses and combination. And he is favorite deity among tantric as well as tribal men and finds a prominent place in folklore. Hindu religious literature is abundant with stories and deeds of salvation.
Narasimha incarnation is not a Yugavatara. This Avatara kills the evil Hiranyakasipu, and protects Prahlada.
A separate Upanisad is devoted to Lord Narasimha. Several Puranas, particularly Visnu, Matsya, Kurma, Padma, and of course the Bhagavata contain the stories of Narasimha. Alvars, Acaryas, Haridasas, saints, singers praise the Man-lion God. Temples of Lord Narasimha can be found everywhere in India but particularly in South India. His devotees worship and sing his glory. Narasimha legends are also circulated along with the Stotras and Mantras.
This diety has pervaded Bharathavarsha space wise and time wise.
There are several families whose Kuladevata is Lord Narasimha. According to Prof. P.K. Joshi Multan now in Pakistan is the original place of Appearance of Narasimha avatar. An Ancient Narasimaha temple is in ruins here. This site is a protected monument. Lord Narsimha parvades History and geography of Indian sub continent. Above all Narasimha is Vishwavyapi. Many countries around India have shrines and devotees of Narasimha. We have a published in this volume a picture of an idol found in a German cave. It is a man lion figure. This idol is supposed to be 15000 years old.
It is in this context, we chose the topic of Lord Narasimha for our national seminar. We have to study the subject through various disciplines and branches of knowledge such as history, archeology, literature, religion, philosophy, architecture, sculpture, music etc. It was decided to conduct a national seminar on Lord Narsimha, in arts, religion and literature. We were able to contact more than fifty scholars who had an in-depth knowledge in the field. A three-day seminar was conducted under the auspices of Academy of Sanskrit Research, Melkote and the Department of Archeology, Karnataka. The papers presented at the seminar are now brought out in this volume. Along with scholarly articles, we were able to get appropriate photos which have enhanced the value of the volume.
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