The short answer
No accepted Ashta Narasimhaof Puri appears in the temple administration’s own record of Shreekshetra, or in the Government of Odisha’s published survey of Narasimha worship in the town.
Neither the Shree Jagannatha Temple Administration nor the Government of Odisha’s own survey of Narasimha worship in Puri records a set of eight Narasimha shrines. Puri’s documented guardian octads are Ashta-Shiva, Ashta-Shakti and Ashta-Mahaveer; its Narasimha shrines are numerous and are not grouped as eight.
That is worth saying plainly, because a pilgrimage list is something a reader may plan a journey around. Three real things most likely collide in the search: Puri genuinely does keep guardian octads, Puri genuinely is dense with Narasimha worship, and the well-known Narasimha circuits genuinely exist — but they are in the south, and they are usually counted as nine rather than eight.
The octads Puri does keep
The Shree Jagannatha Temple Administration describes Shreekshetra as guarded by three sets of eight. None of them is Narasimha.
- Ashta-Shiva — Eight forms of Shiva guarding Shreekshetra.
- Ashta-Shakti — Eight forms of the Goddess guarding Shreekshetra.
- Ashta-Mahaveer — Eight forms of Hanuman guarding Shreekshetra.
Narasimha does appear in the administration’s list of sacred sites — Adi Nrusimha Natha is one of the 127 it names — but as an individual shrine, not as a member of an eight-fold set.
Narasimha shrines in and around Puri
What Puri has instead is a great many Narasimha shrines. The Government of Odisha’s survey names sixteen present-day temples in and around the town, and separately records Narasimha images worshipped as wall-deities at some fifty places inside the Jagannath temple premises alone. The list below follows that survey in its own order.
| Shrine | Location | Presiding form | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Narasimha Temple | Inside the Jagannath temple precinct | Vidarana Narasimha, ugra pose | A pancharatha rekha deula about 55 ft high. |
| Yagna Narasimha Temple | Near the Gundicha temple | Laxmi-Narasimha | About 60 ft. The survey dates the image to the Ganga period and associates its installation with Chodagangadeva, who is said to have introduced Narasimha worship in Odisha. |
| Chakra Narasimha Temple | Chakratirtha road | Chakra Narasimha, with Purusottama Narasimha and Ananta Narasimha | A pidha deula about 55 ft, holding three Narasimha images; the central one is seated inside the chakra. |
| Pandu Narasimha Temple | Pandu Asrama near the Jameswar temple, Gaudabada Sahi | Eight-armed Vidarana Narasimha, ugra pose | — |
| Laxmi-Narasimha Temple | Mangalaghat road, near Bali school | — | A pancharatha rekha deula about 25 ft, with a jagamohan. |
| Narasimha shrines within the Jagannath temple | Baisi Pahacha, Suka, Simachala and Uttar Dwara | — | Four shrines inside the main temple, listed together by the survey. |
| Singada Narasimha Temple | Near the Lokanath temple | Four-armed Laxmi-Narasimha in utkatasana | Named for the singada-bearing pond beside it. Seven serpent hoods form a canopy above the deity. |
| Narasimha Temple, Gadanti Chowk | Beside the Meghanada Pacheri of Srimandir | Four-armed Laxmi-Narasimha | A miniature temple. |
| Kanchisasana Narasimha Temple | Kanchisasana village, Chalisbatia Gram Panchayat, Sadar Block | Four-armed Laxmi-Narasimha | A brahmin sasana village noted for Narasimha worship; the survey records most of its brahmins as Atharvavedi, with Narasimha as tutelary deity. |
| Jagannathpur Laxmi-Narasimha Temple | Jagannathpur village, 2 km from Kanchisasana | Four-armed Laxmi-Narasimha in granite, about 6 ft high | — |
| Rendha Narasimha Temple | Rendha Chowk on the Puri–Brahmagiri road, about 10 km from Puri | Four-armed Laxmi-Narasimha | — |
| Kusunikhuntia Jaga Narasimha | Harachandi Sahi | Four-armed Saumya Narasimha | Distinctive for the absence of a Laxmi figure; a seven-hooded Adisesha canopies the deity. |
| Jadamath Narasimha | Pathuria Sahi | Four-armed Laxmi-Narasimha | A private math. |
| Radhamadhav Narasimha Temple | Hatisal Chowk, Dukhishyama Chhata Math | Four-armed Vidarana Laxmi-Narasimha | — |
| Hinjalajaga Narasimha Temple | Within the jaga premises, Bali Sahi | — | — |
| Barabatijaga Narasimha Temple | Within the jaga premises, Harachandi Sahi | Four-armed Vidarana Laxmi-Narasimha | — |
This is a record of what has been documented, not a route in a fixed order. If you are planning a visit, the shrines inside the Jagannath temple precinct, the Yagna Narasimha temple near Gundicha, and the Chakra Narasimha temple at Chakratirtha are the three the survey treats at greatest length.
If you meant the southern circuits
Most people searching for eight Narasimha kshetras are thinking of the temples in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Tamil Nadu rather than Odisha. Those are a different subject, and SevaCart covers them separately.
Note that the grouping there is usually counted as nine — the Nava Narasimha Kshetras — and that Ahobilam by itself holds nine shrines representing nine aspects of the deity. Any list of exactly eight is a selection someone has made, including ours.
The pan-India Narasimha kshetras · Sacred geography · Dashavatara
Sources and method
Two institutional sources were checked on 2026-08-31: the temple administration’s own account of Shreekshetra, and the Government of Odisha’s published survey of Narasimha worship in Puri. Neither records an eight-fold Narasimha grouping. If a temple, math or published text does record one, we will correct this page and say where it came from.
Sources
- Shreekshetra — the sacred sites of Puri — Shree Jagannatha Temple Administration, Puri (read 31 Aug 2026). The temple administration names three guardian octads of Shreekshetra — Ashta-Shiva, Ashta-Shakti and Ashta-Mahaveer — and lists Narasimha only as individual shrines among the 127 sacred sites.
- Nrusimha Worship in Puri, Orissa Review, July 2008, pages 82–90 — Prof. Purna Chandra Mohapatra, Information & Public Relations Department, Government of Odisha (read 31 Aug 2026). A survey of Narasimha worship in Puri that enumerates sixteen named present-day Narasimha temples in and around the town, and nowhere uses the phrase "Ashta Narasimha".
- Ahobilam — the nine Narasimha shrines — Wikipedia (encyclopaedic summary, cited for the nine-shrine grouping) (read 31 Aug 2026). Ahobilam in Andhra Pradesh holds nine Narasimha shrines. The pan-India grouping is likewise usually counted as nine (Nava Narasimha Kshetras), not eight.
Absence of evidence in two institutional sources is not proof that no local tradition exists. It is the reason this page reports what is documented rather than publishing a list of eight names.
