Page:South-Indian Images of Gods and Goddesses.djvu/90

70 evidently what is popularly known as Jvāla-Nrisimha " the fiery Nrisimha." It may be noted that the famous Chakrapāni temple at Kumbakōnam is dedicated to the discus Sudarsana of Vishnu.

Apart from the various forms of Vishnu detailed above, every Hindu worships certain formless stones, called Sāligrāma, as these more satisfactorily answer to the idea of the formless Brahman. The Sāligrāma stones are generally picked up from the bed of the river Gandakī (in North Bihar) or are made of a particular kind of stone procurable at Dvārakā. The former are perfectly smooth and rounded pebbles and are heavier than ordinary stones. The belief is that within them is found gold or other heavy metal. The Sāligrāma stones are believed to possess certain mystic and sacred virtues. In the country of Avantī, at the foot of the sacred hill known as Hariparvata, is stated to be a big pond called Chakratīrtha, from which flows the river Gandakī. On rare and auspicious occasions, within this pond, are produced the Sāligrāma stones, which, after remaining for 1,000 years in water, become the abode of Vishnu, who then assuming the form of a brilliant little insect called vajrakita enters into them and bores a hole with his mouth, forming therein a discus (chakra) of numerous varieties. The stones are of many colours and sizes and are distinguished by these chakras to represent either Vāsudēva (white colour), Hiranyagarbha (blue), Pradyumna (red), Vishnu (black), Srī-Nārāyana (dark-green), Narasimha (tawny), or Vāmana (deep-blue). Eighty-nine varieties are recognized, each bearing a different name of Vishnu. One well-known test of their suitability for worship consists in placing them in milk or in rice, when, a genuine Sāligrāma is supposed to increase in size and in weight. A strange feature about these stones is that, while they mostly represent the forms of Vishnu, some are stated to be also forms of Siva, Sakti, Sūrya (Sun), Ganapati and the Planets. The Sāligrāmas are never fixed on pedestals as the lingas of Siva (see below, p. 72) or as the images of other gods. In many of the South-Indian temples of Vishnu, garlands of Sāligrāma stones are hung round the necks of images. Sāligrāma forms the most important object of daily worship in every orthodox Brāhmana's house in Southern India. The water poured over it is most holy and like the Ganges water which Brāhmanas generally preserve in their homes in sealed vessels, is offered to the dying man in order that