 This Shiva Ottam (or Run for Shiva) is performed in commemoration of the story of the race between the Sphinx and Bhima, one of the heroes of the epic "Mahabharata".The Indian conception of a sphinx that comes closest to the classic Greek idea is in the concept of the "Sharabha", a mythical creature, part lion, part man and part bird, and the form of Sharabha that god Shiva took on to counter Narasimha's violence.In Sri Lanka the sphinx is known as "narasimha" or man-lion.