Narasingam Yoga Narasimha Perumal Temple

The Narasingam temple is a Pandya rock-cut shrine at the foot of the Yanaimalai, or Elephant Hill, near Madurai, its Narasimha image carved out of the living rock. Inscriptions record that work began in 770 under Maran Kari, a minister of the Pandya king, and was finished by his brother Maran Eyinan, who added the entrance hall and consecrated the shrine.

Its sthalapurana tells that the sage Romasa performed penance here to see Vishnu in his man-lion form; the ferocious Ugra Narasimha was softened by Prahlada's prayers and by Lakshmi, who took her place in him as Narasingavalli, yielding the serene Yoga Narasimha.

The Thiruvilaiyadal Purana adds that the Elephant Hill was once a magic elephant sent against the Pandya king and turned to stone by the Narasimha mantra. Pandya-period halls and a separate shrine of the goddess Narasingavalli frame the cave.