On the day of Narasimha Chaturdashi, Lord Vishnu appeared in half lion and half human form to protect his devotee Prahlad, this form of God was called Narasimha. The rules, guidelines and procedure of Vaishakh Shukla Chaturdashi festival i.e. Narasimha Jayanti fasting are similar to the Ekadashi fast of Srihari.
A day before Narasimha Jayanti, devotees take only one Prahar food. All types of grains are prohibited during the fasting of Narasimha Jayanti. Therefore, it is advised to perform the puja at night and end the fast only after performing immersion puja and donation-dakshina the next morning.
Special worship of Lord Narasimha should be done in the evening. That is, before the end of the day and the beginning of the night, according to the Puranas, Lord Narasimha appeared in this period.
In the worship of Lord Narasimha, especially sandalwood is offered and Abhishek is done. Narasimha is an incarnation of the fierce form of Lord Vishnu. Therefore, sandalwood is offered to pacify their anger. which gives coolness. Abhishek with milk, panchamrit and water is also done to pacify this cruel form.
The legend of Lord Narasimha’s incarnation
According to the legend, Hiranyakashipu had a boon from Brahma that he could neither be killed by any human nor by any animal. It cannot be killed during the day, nor in the night, nor on the ground, nor in the sky. Being intoxicated by this boon, arrogance came in him. After which he snatched the kingdom of Indra Dev and started torturing the people living in the three worlds. He declared that I am the Lord of the whole world and everyone should worship me.
On the other hand, his son Prahlad was a great devotee of Lord Vishnu, contrary to the nature of Hiranyakashipu. Despite his father’s refusal and torture, he continued to worship Lord Vishnu.
When Prahlad did not listen to his father Hiranyakashipu, he tried to kill his own son by pushing him from the mountain, but Lord Vishnu saved the life of his devotee Prahlad. After this Hiranyakashipu tried unsuccessfully to burn Prahlad alive.
In the end, the enraged Hiranyakashipu set fire to his son Prahlad by tying him to the wall and said, tell me where is your God, Prahlad told that God is here, where you have tied me. As soon as Hiranyakashipu wanted to kill Prahlad with his mace, Lord Vishnu came out of the pillar taking the incarnation of Narasimha and killed Hiranyakashipu. The day when Lord Narasimha saved the life of devotee Prahlad by killing Hiranyakashipu, that day is celebrated as Narasimha Jayanti.
