There was a beautiful Sri Bhakt Prahalad Mandir in Pakistan’s Multan, which was located near the popular Multan Narasimha Temple. But both these two mandirs were destroyed by Pakistani militants several years ago! These two mandirs were believed to have been built by an ancient king during the Vedic period, and especially, the murtis present in the Bhakt Prahalad temple were supposed to appear similar to Bhagwan Vishnu, and his two consorts. Bhakt Prahalad was believed to have married two beautiful girls named Kamini Devi and Ragini Devi.
Sri Bhakt Prahalad is believed to be alive today and said to be living in the Sutala Loka (The underworld) along with his consorts and with his grandson Mahabali. Bhakt Prahalad looks similar to his favourite deity Vishnu. It is even said that he is an aspect of Sri Vishnu. Ancient Vedic period Vishnu devotees worshipped Bhakt Prahalad also by considering him to be an aspect of Sri Vishnu. In the Bhakt Prahalad Multan Temple, he is depicted along with his two consorts also adorning Sri Vishnu’s Sudarshan chakra and Shank!
In his Bhagavat Gita Discourse, Sri Krishna says, that among the Demons, I am the great Prahalad! and thus it proves that both of them are one and the same.
I (R. HARISHANKAR), have been chanting the name of Prahalad since from my childhood, since, I consider Prahalad similar to Bhagwan Krishna. However, today people hesitate to worship the Bhagavatas like Prahalad and Dhruva considering them only as mere devotees of Bhagwan Vishnu!
Hence let the devotees of Bhagwan Vishnu cultivate the habit of reciting the name of Prahalad like reciting Sri Vishnu’s names, and let us be blessed.
MANTRA
“Om Prahaladaya Namaha”
‘Om’ is an eternal, universal sound, the Brahman and it denotes the supreme spirit, also called as almighty.
“Prahaladaya means, offering our sincere prayers to the great Sri Prahalad”.
“Nahama” means offering our salutations and Bowing our head before the great almighty, and in this case, it refers to our near and dear Sri Prahalad.
“OM SRI PRAHALADA BHAGAVANE BHAGAVATHANE NAMO NAMAHA”
-R. HARISHANKAR
