Prahlad In Hinduism , Prahlad was a son of Hiranyakashipu , a Daitya . Prahlad is known particularly for his steadfast devotion to Lord Vishnu , while defying his father and not losing his faith despite Hiranyakashipu 's several attempts to coerce and even kill him . The Devotee The story of Prahlad is told in the Seventh book of the Srimad Bhagavatam . Hiranyakashipu had performed severe penance in order to obtain the boon of immortality from Brahma . However , on being denied the boon of immortality , he instead obtained a boon which prevented him from being killed by either man or animal , either at night or during the day , either inside or outside his abode , either on earth or in space , and either by an animate or by an inanimate weapon . Equipped with the power of this boon from Brahma , which Hiranyakashipu thought made it impossible for him to be killed , he began to attack the devas . While he was away on one of his campaigns , the divine sage Narada visited Hiranyakashipu 's wife who was pregnant with Prahlad . Narada started reciting the stories of great devotees of Vishnu to her , but his narration was really directed at Prahlad , who was listening to the stories from within his mother 's womb . Due to this fortuitous event , Prahlad was a convinced and confirmed devotee of the Lord right from his birth and he turned out to be not just an ordinary devotee , but one who set an extraordinary standard for exemplary devotion to the Supreme Almighty . Attempts to kill Prahlad Hiranyakashipu was furious at Prahlad for being a devotee of Vishnu , whom he despised . He attempted to show off his own greatness and tried to demonstrate how he was even greater than Vishnu , but Prahlad refused to be convinced . Hiranyakashipu then made many attempts to have Prahlad killed . These attempts included : having Prahlad hold a hot pole making him jump off a steep cliff getting elephants to trample him piercing him with spears from all sides administering poison setting snakes on him to bite him None of these could harm Prahlad , for he was always chanting and repeating God 's name . Holi Another one of Hiranyakashipu 's attempts to kill him , was to have Prahlad sit on a burning pyre with his older sister Holika. ( This story however is not in the Bhagavatam , which is the original source for Prahlad 's story ) . Holika had a special gift that prevented her from being harmed by fire . Once again Prahlad chanted Vishnu 's name and in the battle of good against evil , Holika was burnt but Prahlad escaped unhurt . The burning of Holika is celebrated as the Holi festival which is popular in northern India . Narasimha In one of his confrontation with Prahlad , Hiranyakashipu asked him in rage if Vishnu was omnipresent , if he was in a particular pillar in his palace . When Prahlada answered that he was , to prove him wrong , Hiranyakashipu smashed the pillar , but to his surprise , Narasimha ( Vishnu 's avatar ) emerged from the pillar . Narasimha ( nara - meaning man , simha - meaning lion , thus Narasimha is half-man and half-lion ) was neither human nor animal and he appeared during twilight ( neither day nor night ) . Narasimha battled Hiranyakashipu , and while on the threshold of the entrance to the courtyard ( neither inside nor outside the latter 's abode ) , laid him on his thighs ( neither on earth , nor in space ) , and using His nails ( neither animate nor inanimate ) ripped open Hiranyakashipu 's stomach and killed him . Places of Pilgrimage The main places of pilgrimage associated Prahlad are those places where Sri Narasimha is believed to have manifested himself in order to aid Prahlad . They are Ahobilam , Kadiri , and Simhachalam all located in the present-day state of Andhra Pradesh in India . Prahlada in Shri Vishnu Purana The holy text of Shri Vishnu Purana gives the story of Prahlada . The relevant Sanskrit text extracted from Sri Vishnu Purana is here : Prahlad Ji Story from Sri Vishnu Purana External Links Short stories on Prahlada 1 2 Hinduism | Hindu mythology | Itihasa Female Deities : Gayatri | Saraswati | Lakshmi | Dakshayani | Parvati | Durga | Shakti | Kali | Sita | Devi | Radha | Mahavidya | more ... Male Deities : Vishnu | Shiva | Rama | Krishna | Ganesha | Kartikeya | Hanuman | Lakshmana | Indra | Surya | more ... Texts : Vedas | Upanishads | Puranas | Ramayana | Mahabharata This box :   view • talk • edit Categories : Characters in Bhagavatam | Hindu devotees In other languages : Deutsch 