Lakshmi Narasimha Temple, Hampi

The Lakshmi Narasimha statue, on the southern side of Hemakuta Hill in Hampi, is the largest monolith at the site: a 6.7 m figure of Narasimha, the man-lion form of Vishnu, cut from a single rock in the reign of Krishnadevaraya. Because of its bulging eyes and fierce expression it is often called Ugra Narasimha.

The god sits cross-legged in a yogic pose on the coils of the serpent Adishesha, whose seven hoods rise behind his head like a canopy, topped by a lion mask inside a makara arch. A small figure of Lakshmi once sat on his lap. When the city was sacked in 1565, the statue's limbs were broken and the goddess was knocked off; only her hand remains, resting on Narasimha's back. The damaged Lakshmi figure is now in the Archaeological Museum at Kamalapura.