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Course: Asian Art Museum > Unit 1
Lesson 2: Hinduism- Roots of Hinduism
- Beliefs of Hinduism
- Hinduism and the practice of faith
- Hindu temples
- Principal texts of Hinduism
- Principal deities of Hinduism
- The Hindu deity Shiva
- Hindu deity Shiva as destroyer of the three cities of the demons
- Hindu Deity Shiva in the Fierce form of Bhairava
- Hindu deity Vishnu
- The Hindu deities Vishnu and Krishna
- The Hindu deity Vishnu in the form of the man-lion Narasimha
- Festival of the Goddess Durga
- Hindu deity Durga victorious over the buffalo demon
- The Hindu deity Ganesha
- Brahmani
- Varanasi: sacred city
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The Hindu deity Vishnu in the form of the man-lion Narasimha
A certain evil demon could not be killed by man or beast, indoors or out, during the day or night. To defeat the demon, Vishnu took the form of a half man-half lion, hid in the pillar of a doorway, and attacked at dusk. Vishnu was victorious, and security and order were restored.
Here the demon is shown twice: bent across Vishnu's knee, being disemboweled; and under Vishnu's foot, being trampled. Along the base of the sculpture, more details of the story are shown. Just before Vishnu's attack, the demon had become enraged at his own son for paying homage to Vishnu. In spite of his father's threats, the boy insisted that Vishnu was present everywhere at all times. The demon angrily retorted, "Even here?" and kicked the pillar of a doorway. Vishnu, as the man-lion, sprang out and overcame him.
Want to join the conversation?
- What was the demons name? And sons name?(1 vote)
- the demons name was hiranyayaksipu and the sons name was prahlada(2 votes)
- Where is the work?(1 vote)
- a museum in Bangladesh I think(1 vote)