An important festival in the Hindu almanack, Narasimha Jayanti or Narasimha Chaturdashi is celebrated is on Vaisakh Chaturdashi (14th day) of the Shukla Paksh. This year Narasimha Jayanti falls on May 17. Notably, the Lord Narasimha (half man and half lion) is the fourth incarnation/ avatar of Lord Vishnu as he appeared as a lion-man (nara-simha), with the face and features of a lion but the body of a man on the day of Narasimha Jayanti. Lord Narasimha was instrumental in the killing of demon Hiranyakashipy on this day. The day of Narasimha Jayanti is considered to be highly auspicious for the followers of Lord Vishnu. All Lord Vishnu devotees also observe fast on this day.
According to scriptures, Lord Narasimha appeared during the sunset on Chaturdashi and that is why his puja is performed during those hours. It is said that the purpose of Narasimha Jayanti is to remove adharma (the path of wickedness) and to follow the path of dharma (the path of righteousness), which signifies the path towards correct deeds and not harming anyone.
According to the scriptures, the rituals of the day include:
A special puja that is performed on this day with idol or picture of Lord Narasimha and Goddess Laxmi.
Devotee or bhakts should wake up early during the Brahma muhurat and take a bath. He or she should wear new and fresh clothes.
The puja ceremony should be done with friends and relatives offering items like flowers, sweets, kumkum, kesar and coconut.
One should fast on this day with sunrise and continues until the next day’s sunrise.
One can have one meal in the day that should be without any kind of cereals or grains.
Narasimha mantra should be recited with rudraksha mala to please the God and attain a more meaningful life.
Pious deeds are also encouraged on this day.
It is believed that fasting on Narasimha Jayanti is said to relieve all problems of devotees.
The devotee should try to meditate and recite mantras in isolation for better results.
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