Narsimha Dudhai

Vishavarupa Darshan of the NaraHari

hataka kiritavara hara vanamala
tararashana makara kundala manindraih
bhushitam-ashesha-nilayam tava vapurme
chotasi chakasta narasimha narasimha 

O Lord Nrisimha, O Lord Nrisimha, Your transcendental body, which is the ultimate shelter of everything. Is decorated with a beautiful golden crown, a forest garland, shark-like earrings, various excellent jewels and an out projecting wide tongue. (Sri Nrisimhashtakam)

The cattle-track drive to Dudhai earlier in the day was partly through a forest road built in the British era. There were times when the track became so bad that I thought of turning back. But I soldiered on; I was glad I did. The Narasimha needs to be talked about.

The statue stands more than 30ft high and in the true spirit of the myth it represents, it has across its thighs the figure of the demon Hiranyakashipu being torn apart. It is not beautiful, but then this incarnation of Vishnu was never meant to be so. In terms of detailing it has some exceptional aspects. The lines of rock have been drawn to a fine point and some articles of clothing and a necklace stand out. The ferocity of the Narasimha-avatar is typified by the teeth drawn back in a snarl. The statue, created out of the rock it stands in, has near perfect camouflage and is nearly invisible unless seen from a relatively close distance.

Research on the statue proved quite futile with the complete absence of documented material on this site. Most Narasimha-centric places of worship are located in south India with just a few scattered sites in the north and central India. Given the lack of material, it was difficult to pin down the time of its creation. However, circumstantial evidence drawn from other sites in the same geographic region points to the Gupta period, when the worship of Vishnu was at a high. The Dashavatara temple at nearby Deogarh and the huge standing Varaha statue in the Udaygiri caves in Madhya Pradesh are two cases in point.
Both date to the Gupta period and both are classic examples of the iconography that was used to depict the incarnations of Vishnu. That the Dudhai Narasimha would belong to this period can only be taken as a logical conclusion, though more research is needed to find a more precise date.

Time has taken a harsh toll and the impact of rainwater has blurred the outlines of the statue in places. Quarrying is happening nearby. There is a point till which isolation is splendid and for the Narasimha that point is long over. At the end of the day, an icon needs to be respected.

In the Lalitpur district of Uttar Pradesh is the ancient village of Dudhai, which is home to an astounding murti of Lord Nrsimhadeva. Cut into the rock face of a hillside way off the beaten track, relatively few pilgrims search out this hidden treasure. Although it is listed as a sacred site by the Archaeological Survey of India, little documentation is available about the sculpture. Lord Nrsimhadeva's lips are pulled back in a snarl, revealing his fearsome teeth and tongue. The lines of rock have been used advantageously, bringing certain elements of the design to a fine point. The Lord's clothing and ornaments, for example, are very distinct in some places, while in some places the lines of the sculpture have been blurred by water and weather. A split column is beautifully executed in the murti, and the sculptor took full advantage of the natural colors in the rock face, which emphasize certain aspects of the murti design. Overall, this massive image is so camouflaged by its natural surroundings as to be almost invisible, until one gets relatively close, and views it from the right angle.

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