Water Flowing from the Lotus Feet of Lord Narasimha: Jharni Nrsimhadeva

Water Flowing from the Lotus Feet of Lord Narasimha: Jharni Nrsimhadeva

The Jharni Narasimha Cave Temple is one of the adventurous Ancient Hindu Cave Temple dedicated to Lord Narasimha. The ancient temple is excavated in a 300 m tunnel under the Manichoola hill range, situated at around 4.8 km from the city. It is located in Bidar, Karnataka. The main deity of this temple is Lord Narasimha who is amidst the water in cave. He is the 4th incarnation of Lord Vishnu and is semi Lion & semi Human. One has to pass through the intense water present inside this cave to make it to Lord Narasimha. There is a shrine for Lord Shiva also inside this temple. The deity Lord Narasimha of Jharani Temple is ‘Swayambhu’ (self manifested) in visible in his Divya Mangala Salagrama Roopam (Shalagrama form), who is very powerful. Every year this temple is visited by thousands of devotees as the Lord fulfills the wishes of his devotees.

Uniqueness of Jharni Narasimha

One has to wade through the cave wherein water height varies from 4 feet to 5 feet to have a glimpse of the deity’s image formed on the laterite wall at the end of tunnel which is architectural wonder. Bats can be seen hanging on the roof of the cave and flying throughout the tunnel. It is a wonder that no one has been harmed by the bats till date. People utter the words govinda-govinda and narasimha hari-hari with devotion as mantras. The end of the cave temple is the sanctum sanctorum which houses two deities – Lord Narasimha and a Shiva Linga which the demon Jharasura (Jalasura) had worshipped. Around eight people can stand and watch this spectacular sight as there is very little space in there. Others need to wait in the water for their turn. Since the water flows continuously and people walk in it, the water does not remain crystal clear. People carry kids into the temple on their shoulder. The water has sulphur in it and is said to have healing properties for people having skin problems.

Narasimha Avatar

Lord Vishnu guarded the child devotee Prahlada, who was put to endless torture by his father Hiranyakashipu, a Demon, for repeating God’s name instead of his own. But Prahlada withstood all these tortures with steadfast devotion. Finally God appeared in the terrible form as Man-Lion, and killed the Hiranyakashipu. In this Man-Lion incarnation, the God’s emphasis is on devotion.

Sthala Puranam (History of the Temple)

Lord Vishnu took Narasimha Avatar to kill the Demon Hiranyakashyapu. He also killed another asura (demon) named Jalasura, who was living in this cave as it was the demon’s home. As Jalasura was an ardent devotee of Lord Shiva, in his last breath he requested Lord Vishnu (Lord Narasimha) to stay in the same cave where he was living and bless the devotees. Granting last wish of his, Lord Narasimha came to live in the cave. Therefore, Lord Narasimha took the Swayambhu Avataar and the Demon Jalasura took the form of Natural Spring water which flows continuously through Lord’s feet till date, from hundreds of years ago and fills the cave giving it the name as “Jharani Narasimha Cave Temple”.

In short, after being killed, the demon turned into water and started flowing down the feet of the Lord Narasimha. The flow of water in the cave tunnel is continuous since then. The spring has never dried out.

To make the devotees free from suffocation, proper ventilation and electricity are provided through the Aerators which are installed in the cave which pump fresh air into the caves canal. Due to lack of space, only 8 people are allowed at a time to take darshan while the others have to wait in the water.

Geological Aspects

Narasimha Jharni is a tubular spring. Though Bidar is at an elevation, the temple is at a lower level. It is located amidst the slopes of the hilly terrain. The lateritic rock formation under the plateau enables percolation of surface water. Bidar urban plateau is of irregular shape, land stretching about 35.4 km in length and 19.3 km in width. The plateau consists of red laterite rocky crust, of a depth varying from 30.5 m to 152.4 m supported on impervious trap base. This has resulted in springs at the cleavages between trap and laterite rocks.[5] Such water springs can be observed in Bidar also at Guru Nanak Jhira Sahib Gurudwara, Papanasam Shiva Temple in Tamil Nadu etc.

This temple is especially visited by many child seeking couples. As this is one of its kind temple, the overall experience can be thrilling & adventurous.