Sharabha is an avatar of Lord Shiva which is not commonly known. This is considered as the most powerful appearance taken by Siva to protect the universe.
Sharabha Avatar of Lord Shiva
His manifestation as Sarabeshwara was to dominate over the fierce embodiment of Lord Vishnu as Narasimha which was the combination of half human and half lion. The objectiveness of Vishnu’s personification was to save his favorite devotee prince Prahalada from the demon king Hiranyakashipu who was his father too. After killing him, Narasimha seemed to be very furious in nature. He created an awful situation in the Universe by roaring dreadfully and continuously. By foreseeing the negative outcome of this, other Gods and sub-gods sought help from Mahadeva who then decided to take the Sharabha form to pacify the angry Narasimha and convert him to normal Vishnu.
Appearance of Shiva as Sharabha
The Sharaba form of Shiva was the structural blend of human, animal and bird with gigantic as well as blistering look. It had so many hands, claws and legs, and almost resembled a huge dragon. The entangled tresses in the body highlighted the ferocity of the structure to a greater extend. In the head there was a massive crest which looked like a dome. There were well spread wings on the back side of the body with a long tail. The extremely sharp incisors in the mouth and inflexible claws were its main weapons. Its thunder like voice created echo in the environments and was horrible to hear. It had three eyes which were glowing like fire balls. Its teeth and lips were well formed and can be seen properly. It produced awful hissing sounds throughout.
Story of Sharabha Avatar of Shiva
At first Lord Shiva took the form of Veerabhadra and asked Narasimha to cool down. But Narasimha ignored this appeal. So he himself transformed to colossal Sarabha which outclassed Narasimha both in structure and power. Then Sarabha lifted Narasimha with its long tail and was about to throw him. Narasimha realized this and prayed Sarabha to forgive him. This made Lord Siva to aware the recovery of Vishnu from ferocious nature and hence did not hurt him. As a mark of respect to Lord Siva, Narasimha removed the skin of lion from his body and presented to Sharabeshwaramurti. Thus the incarnation as Sarabha by Lord Siva pacified the Narasimha manifestation of Lord Vishnu. This embodiment of Siva is referred as Sarabeshawara. In Shiva temples idols of two Sarabeshwara are found at the entrance of sanctum sanctorum.