Pratyangira Devi

About Pratyangira Devi

Pratyangira is the lion-faced goddess who calmed Narasimha. When Vishnu's man-lion form raged on after killing Hiranyakashipu, she rose — paired with Shiva's Sharabha avatar — to cool his fury, which is why she is also called Narasimhi. Iconography shows her with a lion's head on a human body, hair standing erect, four arms holding a skull, trident, damaru, and noose, seated on a lion. As Atharvana Bhadrakali, drawn from Atharva Veda counter-spell tradition, she is invoked to turn back black magic, hostile mantras, and evil eye. Her best-known shrine is the Sri Maha Pratyangira Devi temple at Sholinganallur, Chennai, famous for protective homas.