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Illustration of an Indian woman holding a flower
This exhibition is in the past. View our current exhibitions.
INDIAN SCHOOL, LATE 18TH CENTURY

Narasimha, the fourth incarnation of Vishnu.

circa 1790

RCIN 1005115.g

Folio 4

Narasimha, the half-man half-lion fourth avatar of Vishnu, is here depicted instead with a tiger's head. Having burst from a marble pillar, Narasimha sits in a courtyard of Hiranyakashipu's palace and disembowels the king with his claws. To the right stands Hiranyakashipu's pious son, Prahlada, carrying his takhtī (writing board) and to the left, his mother, Kayadhu.

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