very ferocious Ugra-Nrsimha is installed. The demon Hiranyakasipu is torn open on His lap and his intestines are spilling out all over the altar. Once the standard of worship there was very high. There was an elephant procession and festival every day. But gradually the worship declined. Today that place is like a ghost town. The whole village is deserted. No one can live there peacefully: Is that what they want for their project? ” The sthapati replied, “ They are very insistent: They are constantly coming to talk to me about the Deity. Apparently, they have some problem with dacoits. ” Handing his guru a sketch of the Deity, he said, “ This is the Deity they want. ” His guru took the sketch and looked at it knowingly. “ Ah, this is ugra category, ” he said, “ but a Deity in this particular mood is - called Sthanu-Nrsimha: He doesn ’ t exist on this planet. Even the demigods in the heavenly planets don ’ t worship a form like this. Yes, this Deity belongs to the ugra category. Ugra means ferocious : , very angry. There are nine forms within this category. They are all very fierce. The one they want is Sthanu- Nrsimha: stepping out of the pillar. No. Don ’ t carve this Deity. It will not be auspicious for you. I will talk with you about this later. ” A few nights later , the sthapati had a dream. In the dream his guru came to him and said, “ For them you can carve Sthanu-Nrsimha. ” The next morning he received a hand-delivered letter from Kanchipuram. The letter was from the Sankaracharya and gave some instructions regarding temple renovations. There was a footnote at
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