Deities with Lion Face

Lions are personified as the king of forest and mostly admired for its majestic appearance. Hindu mythology also doesn't miss the chance to embrace the mighty lion. It is mount for Goddess Durga who is called as Simhavahini.

Goddess Durga on Lion

Not stopping with that, the deities, themselves took avatar with lion face as this combination of lion and human forms represents the balance of good and evil. Lord Narasimha, Lord Sarabeswara, and Goddess Prathiyankara Devi are those mighty Gods who are worshiped as the savior against evils.

Lord Narasimha

Lord Sarabeswara

Goddess Prathiyankara Devi

The three deities avatars are linked in the given order. The story is like this.

Lord Narasimha

Narasimha, the fourth incarnation of god Vishnu, is half-lion half-human. This incarnation  is to to alleviate the sufferings of devotees symbolizing fight against evil and tyranny. Lord Narayana is considered to be the origin of the other transcendental forms of God. 

As told in Markandeya Purana: In the beginning of the Satya yuga, Hiranyakashipu (the brother of Hiranyaksha who was killed by the Varaha Avtar) wanted to take revenge on the Devatas and in particular on Lord Vishnu. He wanted to become the master of all the three worlds - Heaven, Earth & Pathala. He went to Mount Mandarachala and began penance which continued for years. Due to the intensity of Penance, Lord Brahma appeared before Hiranyakashipu and Hiranyakashipu asked for immortality as boon. Brahma, however, declined, saying "All living beings must face death Hiranyakashipu. You can, however, choose your death wish."

Hiranyakashipu then asked for three conditions, as his death wish, "'O Brahma, let not death come to me either by man or beast, nor devil, nor god shall cause my death by day or by night with steel or stone or wood, indoors or outdoors, or earth or in sky. Grant me undisputed lordship over the world". Brahma agreed and Hiranyakashipu got his death wishes granted. Thus he became practically immortal. 

Hiranyakashipu's wife Kayadhu gave birth to Prahlad in the Ashrama of Narada who told Prahlad about the glory of Lord Vishnu. Prahlad grew up and became an ardent devotee of Vishnu. Hiranyakashipu, however, wanted his son to be the king of the Asuras, strong and ruthless. Realising that Prahlad always prayed to Lord Vishnu, Hiranyakashipu took his son to Shanku and Amarka, the sons of Shukracharya, for schooling. All their efforts to inflence Prahlad failed.

One day the king challenged his son in the open court if Lord Vishnu was omnipresent? And if Prahalad could embrace the pillar in front to witness Lord Vishnu is in it also?

Prahlad did not hesitate even for a moment but rushed towards the pillar and embraced it. The heated iron did not burn him. The king got up from his throne in fury and hit the pillar with his mace.

To the surprise of everyone in court, The pillar cracked with a thundering sound and Vishnu appeared there in the form of Narasimha. One half of his body was of a lion and the other half of a man. It was twilight and Narasimha caught hold of the demon Hiranyakashipu and killed him on the spot in a moment by tearing up his body and drinking his blood.. 

Lord Narasimha was furious and roared. Because of the anger in Hiranyakashipu's body and the malicious effects of human blood, Narasimha was drunk on rage and could not be stopped. To calm him down with the power of compassion, originated Lord Sarabeswara. Also read: Various forms of Lord Narasimha Lord Sarabeswara Unable to control the turbulence of Lord Narasimha, the Devatas pleaded Lord Shiva for help. As a result, to quell the anger of Lord Narasimha, Lord Shiva sends Veerabhadra powering Him with a shaft of light who assumes the magnificent form of Lord Sarabeswara . He appears as half-bird and half-beast, with two wings bearing Goddess Prathiyankara and Goddess Soolini on either side. The face is that of a Yali. Sarabeswara bears a deer, battleaxe, snake and fire in his four hands. He also bears Bhairava and Agni in his abdomen. Two of his four feet rest on a mountain. The benign grace of Lord Veera Sarabeswara is said to protect devotees from all kinds of malevolent forces. Upon seeing this, Lord Narasimha created Ganda-Berunda, a two headed-bird that was Sarabeswara's opposite. Upon seeing this, Sarabeshwara turned into Bhairava (Shiva's fierce form) and created Goddesses Pratyangira from his third eye. Also read: Temple & Puja performance for Lord sarabeswara Goddess Prathiyankara Devi She is also referred to as Aparajitha – the invincible. She is believed to have emerged from the fire emanating from the third eye of Lord Sarabeswarar. It was Goddess Prathiyankara who aided in subsiding the anger of Lord Narasimha. Prathyangira ate the bird created by Lord Narasimha, displaying rage the like of which the gods had never seen before.She was praised as she calmed Narasimha down by sitting on his lap.She is lion – faced and is seated on a lion. Her four hands bear a noose in the form of a snake, trident, hand-drum and bowl (kabaala paathram). She wears a garland of skulls. In this Kali yuga, where evil is manifest in varied forms, Goddess Prathiyankara is regarded as the saviour of mankind, alleviating the sufferings of humanity. She possesses the power to offset the influences of black magic. Though fearsome in appearance, she is the very embodiment of benevolence and grace to her devotees. The Sarabeswara, Prathyankira Devi and Narasimha avatars happened during the Pradosham time period. The Nitya Pradosham time period on the Thrayodasi thithi (the thirteenth thithi) is known as Paksha Pradosham; it occurs once in each paksham. It's one of the most spiritually potent times within each paksham (fortnight). The Sarabesvara, Ugraha Prathyankira Devi and Narasimha avatars must be worshipped during this time period.