My recent Facebook post about ancient Narasimha avatar carving in Kaiyuan temple in Quanzhou, China

My recent Facebook post shared this post about an ancient Narasimha avatar carving in Kaiyuan temple in Quanzhou, China: https://www.facebook.com/thebharatpost/posts/a-fascinating-cultural-link-is-drawing-attention-to-a-rare-carving-of-narasimha-/1323013913019340/

The share comments of my above mentioned recent Facebook post are given below.

Very interesting! More background from the wiki page for the Kaiyuan Temple (Quanzhou), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaiyuan_Temple_(Quanzhou) :

The temple is also one of few in China to contain Hindu monuments, left there by traders from Southern India.

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Quanzhou is a port city in the Southeastern coastal part of China.

As per Gemini AI:

In the "distant past"—specifically during the Song (960–1279) and Yuan (1271–1368) dynasties—Quanzhou was effectively the center of the maritime world.

Because of its location, it was the primary destination for Tamil merchants and other South Indian traders who crossed the Indian Ocean and the South China Sea.

The South India Connection:

The link between South India and Quanzhou was so strong that it left behind physical evidence you can still see today:

Hindu Temples: Quanzhou is unique in China for having the remains of Hindu temples dedicated to Shiva and Vishnu.

Architectural Fusion: You can find Tamil-style stone carvings, including depictions of Hindu deities and motifs, repurposed in the Kaiyuan Temple and stored in the local Maritime Museum.

The "Zayton" Era: Traders from the Arab world and South Asia knew the city as Zayton. It was considered a much more vital port than Shanghai (which was just a small fishing and textile town back then).

Logistics of the Past:

For a trader sailing from the Chola Kingdom or the Malabar Coast, Quanzhou was the logical "end of the line" for the Maritime Silk Road. Going any further north to places like Shanghai would have meant battling tougher coastal currents and different monsoon wind patterns for very little extra gain, as Quanzhou already had all the silk, porcelain, and tea they wanted.

It’s fascinating to think that 800 years ago, a merchant from South India would have felt right at home in a Quanzhou market!

--- end Gemini response extract ---

While the temple was originally built in 685 or 686 (CE), it was renovated over the centuries. Probably the carving was made during a later renovation. Perhaps around 800 years back would be the earliest possible date for the carving being made in the Chinese temple.

I got drawn to this Facebook post and further digging up of info., as on my mother's side, our family deity temple in Kerala, South India, is also dedicated to Lord Narasimhamoorthy (and another deity - Lord Mahasudarsanamoorthy). For more, you may see my 2019 blog post: My mother's family side Kula Daivam temple in Thuravoor, Kerala and Manapullikaavu (sacred grove) temple near Palakkad, Kerala, https://ravisiyer.blogspot.com/2019/05/my-mothers-family-side-kula-daivam.html .

Note that Narasimhamoorthy is same as Narasimha avatar. For more about Narasimha avatar, please see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narasimha. Narasimha avatar is much before Rama and Krishna avatars! Narasimha is the fourth avatar in the Dasha (ten) avatars, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dashavatara. After Narasimha, came Vaman avatar and Parashurama avatar which was followed by Rama and Krishna avatars. So when we are talking about Narasimha avatar, we are going back tens of thousands of years (if you believe in these Hindu avatars, which I certainly do).

It is fascinating to see how ancient these aspects of my Hindu heritage including my own family heritage are, and how they have left behind marks which can be seen even in today's atheist communist China! One must also credit the communists of China for not destroying such Hindu heritage, even if they are opposed to faith in God.

Just in case clarification: Note that I am not saying that the Narasimha carving image in the Chinese temple originated from my family deity temple. It surely would have come from elsewhere, somewhere in Tamil Nadu perhaps. But that Narasimha image is a shared image across Tamil Nadu and Kerala of those times. 

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https://youtu.be/S3sqMYnl3ZI?t=273 (July 2023 video, in Hindi but English captions in YouTube facility does a decent job for this segment) till 5 min. 4 secs (around 30 seconds duration) shows a Chinese guide explaining this Narasimha avatar carving in Kaiyuan temple in Quanzhou.