INDIA, ORISSA, 12TH-13TH CENTURY

This dynamic and powerful stele captures the moment when the Hindu god, Vishnu reveals himself in the guise of his ferocious half-lion, half-man form, known as Narasimha, to vanquish the asura king, Hiranyakashipu. After his brother, Hiranyaksha, was killed by the Vishnu's boar-form avatar, Varaha, Hiranyakashipu decided to seek vengeance and kill Vishnu. In order to achieve powers capable of defeating the god, Hiranyakashipu performed penance to the chief god, Brahma. Pleased by his worship, Brahma grants Hiranyakashipu the boon of his choice: that he cannot be killed by man or animal, that he cannot be killed inside or outside, day or night, on the ground or in the sky, by weapons animate or inanimate. With such a boon, Hiranyakashipu gains immeasurable power, and an accompanying sense of pride and arrogance.
To Hiranyakashipu’s dismay, however, his son Prahlad is a devoted follower of Vishnu and Hiranyakashipu grows so angry that he decides to strike down his son. As he moves to kill him, Vishnu, in the form of Narasimha, emerges from a pillar and destroys Hiranyakashipu. Although the present stele lacks the representation of the pillar, it depicts the fateful moment at dusk (neither day nor night) when Narasimha (neither man nor animal) emerges from the pillar (neither inside nor outside), props the asura king up on his knee (neither on the ground nor in the sky), and disembowels him with his claws (weapons neither animate nor inanimate). The figure on all fours and supporting Narasimha’s foot is likely Hiranyakashipu’s son, Prahlad. As such, the story of Narasimha is a gruesome but instructive parable about arrogance and hubris.