Hare Krsna to all
Pranams
All glories to Srila Prabhupada and
LORD NRSIMHADEV
His appearance is this friday.
Below is some information (taken from the Bindu magazine) about Jwala  Nrsimhadev a deity that appeared some time ago in Southern India. Also included  is a video of this Deity of
Lord Nrsimhadev
Hare Krsna
Damaghosa das
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The Deity of Jwala Nrsimhadev
 

Blazing Nrsimhadev

In district Sangli in southwestern Maharashtra lies a little known  village by the name of Nrsimhapur, and an even lesser known form of Lord  Nrsimhadeva. Known to the locals as “Jwala [flaming] Nrsimha”, this  impressive sixteenhanded form of the Lord standing on one foot has been  the protector and benefactor of his reverential devotees for thousands of  years. The local tradition related to this deity has been compiled in a  book known as Kṛṣṇa-māhātmya. A verse reads as follows: yadā punas-tadā  bhaktyā tapaḥ kartuṁ parāśaraḥ nārasiṁhaṁ tadā dhyāyan kṛṣṇā-tīre  muneśvaraḥ

The foremost amongst the sages, Parashar, performed austerities on the  bank of the river Krishna with a heart full of devotion, meditating on Lord  Nrsimhadev. According to the local tradition, Lord Nrsimhadev was pleased  with the devotion of Parashar Muni and hence appeared in a wonderful  sixteen-handed form. This was the same blazing form that the Lord had  assumed while killing Hiranyakashipu. Seeing that it was not possible for  anyone to establish this ferociously blazing form on earth, the Lord  ordered Parashar Muni to immerse him in the river Krishna. With a heavy  heart, the sage immersed the deity in the water. Centuries later, around the  year 178 A.D., a brahmin couple staying at a village named Anjana had  been cursed to become blind and dumb by a sage.

On begging forgiveness, they were advised by the sage to perform  austerities for the pleasure of Lord Nrsimha to absolve themselves of the  curse. After twelve years of rigorous austerities, the Lord appeared in  their dreams and told them that he now wished to establish himself on earth  as a deity and asked them to approach the local king named Bhimadev to get  him out of the river. When asked how they would find the exact location where  he was under the water, the Lord told them to place some dry kuśa grass in  the stream and that they would find him exactly under the place where  the grass caught fire. After that darśana of the Lord, the couple  immediately regained their sight and speech and set off to inform the  king. On hearing the request of the couple, the king sent his entourage to  discover the deity. While searching in the river according to the procedure  specified by the Lord, one of the blades of grass caught fire and the  wonderful sixteen-handed form of the Lord was discovered from the depths of  the river. On examining the deity, the devotees could see that the Lord  was positioned with his left leg raised and bent in order to place the demon  Hiranyakashipu upon it, and also to hold the left arm of the demon to  prevent him from escaping. His other foot was placed firmly on the doorstep  of Hiranyakashipu. On the left side of the Lord were small deities  of Lakshmi-devi and Prahlad Maharaja. On the right side were deities of  Bhudevi (the earth goddess) and Garuda. All around the form of Lord Nrsimha  were wonderful carvings of the famous daśāvatāras, ten incarnations of  Lord Krishna.

Most of these carvings can be seen even today. Unfortunately,  the carving of Garuda has been lost and two hands of the Lord have been  separated due to rough handling. These two hands have been preserved at a  pujāri’s home nearby. Jwala Nrsimha has been worshipped since then  with great pomp and reverence, and was visited by many prominent saints of  Maharashtra. The current temple structure was built under the guidance of  Hemadri Pant, the disciple of the great vaiṣṇava scholar Vopadev  and commentator on Vopadev’s magnum opus entitled Muktā-phalam. Hemadri  Pant was an expert diplomat, administrator, poet, theologian, and  scholar. Mentioned by Srila Jiva Goswami in Tattva- Sandarbha as a  historical authority, Hemadri Pant held the position of minister in the court  of King Ramachandra Dev of the Yadava dynasty of Maharashtra. It was under  the guidance of Hemadri Pant that the temple was constructed by the  king in 1273 A.D. The architecture of the temple is of a unique style  named after Hemadri Pant, which relies on usage of locally available raw  material. The temple has two main doors — one on the northern side and  another on the eastern side. Visitors generally enter through the eastern  door. The deity is located 14 feet under the ground, and in order to reach  there one has to climb down steep staircases and pass through narrow tunnels  many of which are under several inches of flowing water from the nearby  Krishna river. The temple complex contains a painting and samādhī of a  siddhamahātma named Sri Siddheshwar Maharaja.

The devotees meditate on the wonderful sixteen arms of Jwala Nrsimha as  follows: dhyeyo yadā mahat-karma tadā ṣoḍaśa-hasta-vān nṛsiṁhaḥ  sarva-lokeśaḥ sarvābharaṇa-bhūṣitaḥ dvau-vidāraṇa karmāhau dvau  cātroddharaṇa-kṣamau

cakra-śaṅkha-dharāv anyāv anyau bāṇa-dhanur-dharau

khaḍga-kheṭa-dharāv anyau dvau gadā-padma-dhāriṇau pāśāṅkuśa-dharāv  anyau dvau ripor-mukuṭārpitau iti ṣodaśador-daṇḍa-maṇḍitaṁ nṛhariṁ  vibhum dhyāyed-ambuja-nīlābhaṁ ugra-karmany-ananyadhiḥ Amongst all types  of meditations on the great activities of the Lord, let there be meditation  on the sixteen-handed Lord Nrsimha, the Lord of all the worlds, decorated  with all ornaments. Two of his arms are engaged in tearing apart the demon  Hiranyakashipu, while two others prevent the demon from resisting. Two  others carry the disc and the conch, while two others carry a bow and  arrows. Two others carry a sword and a shield, while two others carry a  club and a lotus. Two other hands carry a rope and a chastisement rod, while  two others are placed on the crown of the demon. In this way, the sixteen  hands of the almighty Lord Nrsimhadev are decorated. One should  meditate upon this dark-hued lotus like form of the Lord, who is the  performer of ferocious activities and the master of infinite universes. — HPD · Bibliography — Ek Alaukik Tīrthakṣetra, Śrī-kṣetra-nṛsiṁhapur, third  edition, researched, edited and re-written by Shyam D. Ghalsasi,  11, Vishwasgarden B, Suncity Road, Anand Nagar, Pune, Maharashtra. — Tattva-Sandarbha, transcribed edition from Gaudiya Grantha Mandira (https://www.granthamandira.com) — https://www.jwalanarsimha.blogspot.in

(thanks to Bindu)