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The Story of Diwali

By Brishti Bandyopadhyay ; Illustrations by Sudheer Nath and Shiju George

South India: the myth of Narasimha
In South India, the story linked to Diwali is that of Narasimha, the man-lion incarnation of Vishnu, who is known as the God of Preservation among the Hindu Trinity that is made up of Brahma (the God of Creation) and Shiva (the God of Destruction).

According to legend, Vishnu incarnates himself as Narasimha (man-lion) to rid the earth of an evil king Hiranyakshipu. The king had received a boon from Brahma that he could not be conquered by either god or human for the simple reason that he could be killed neither by beast nor man, neither inside nor outside, neither during the day nor at night.

When Hiranyakshipu's atrocities became unbearable, the gods turned to Vishnu for help. Vishnu reincarnated himself as Narasimha, half man and half lion and, therefore, neither man nor beast.

As Narasimha, he killed Hiranyakshipu with his claws at the threshold (which is neither inside nor outside), and just before daybreak (a time when it is neither day nor night). That way he managed to get around the boon given to the king.