this Deity?” When he heard that it was the Hare Krsna people from Mayapur, he became very concerned. “They want Ugra Nrsimha? Are they aware of the implications of carving and installing Ugra Nrsimha? Such Deities were carved over three thousand years ago by elevated sthapatis. There is a place on the way to Mysore where a very ferocious Ugra Nrsimha is installed. The demon Hiranyakasipu is torn open on His lap, and the demon’s intestines are spilling out all over the altar. Once the standard of worship there was very high, with an elephant procession and a 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 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 which his guru came to him and said, “For them you can carve Sthanu Nrsimha.” The next morning the sthapati received a hand-delivered letter from Kanchipuram. The letter, from the Sankaracarya, gave some instructions regarding temple renovations. There was a footnote. It read, “For ISKCON you can carve Sthanu Nrsimha.” The sthapati showed me the letter and said, “I have my guru’s blessings. I will carve your Deity.” I was overjoyed. I gave him an advance payment and asked him how long carving the Deity would take. He said the Deity would be ready for installation within six
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