The Shaiva scriptures narrate that god Shiva assumed the Avatar (incarnation) of Sharabha to pacify Narasimha - the fierce man-lion avatar of Vishnu worshipped by Vaishnava sect. This form is popularly known as Sharabeshwara (Lord Sharabha) or Sharabeshwaramurti. The Vaishnavas refute the portrayal of Narasimha as being destroyed by Shiva-Sharabha and regard Sharabha as a name of Vishnu. Another tale narrates that Vishnu assumed the form of the ferocious Gandabherunda bird-animal to combat Sharabha.