Although a Hindu by birth, Narasimhaiah refused to practice religious rituals. He did not perform tonsure (cutting the hair off the head) upon the death of his father. He would eat food during a solar eclipse to demonstrate that it does not cause indigestion, as Hindus believed to be so and would fast. He did inaugurate the procession at Dasera, a festival with homage to Goddess Chamundeshwari, in 2004. But he explained that it was out of respect of "tradition and culture".