gopuram, Karnataka. •
Matsya: The fish avatar. King
Vaivasvata Manu finds a little fish in the palm of his hands when performing the
tarpana (water-offering). The fish asks Manu if his riches and power was enough to give the fish a nice home. Manu keeps the fish to give it a home, but the fish keeps expanding, which breaks Manu's pride about his wealth. Eventually, he releases it into the ocean, realizing it is Vishnu himself. Vishnu informs Manu of the coming destruction of the world, by means of fires and floods, and directs Manu to collect "all creatures of the world" and keep them safe on a boat built by the gods. When the
deluge (
Pralaya) occurs, Vishnu appears as a great fish with a horn, to which Manu ties the boat, which leads them into safety. •
Kurma: The tortoise/turtle avatar. In the legend of the
Samudra Manthana, the
devas and
asuras were churning the
Ocean of Milk in order to obtain
amrita, the nectar of immortality. They used the mountain
Mandara as the churning shaft, which started to sink. Vishnu took the form of a tortoise to bear the weight of the mountain to allow them to complete their task. •
Varaha: The boar avatar. The gatekeepers of
Vaikuntha, the abode of Vishnu,
Jaya and Vijaya, are cursed by the
Four Kumaras when they stop them from seeing Vishnu. They choose to be reborn three times as
asuras as adversaries of Vishnu. In their first birth, they are born as the brothers
Hiranyaksha and
Hiranyakashipu. Varaha appeared to defeat Hiranyaksha, who had abducted the earth, and by extension the earth goddess,
Bhumi, and carried it to the bottom of the cosmic ocean. The battle between Varaha and Hiranyaksha is believed to have lasted for a thousand years, which the former finally won. Varaha carried the earth out of the ocean between his tusks and restored it to its place in the universe. •
Narasimha: The half-man/half-lion avatar. Hiranyakashipu persecuted everyone for their religious beliefs including his son,
Prahlada, who was a devotee of Vishnu. The boy was protected by the god and could not be killed, thus being saved by the several attempts of getting harmed. During a
yajna of the king, Vamana approached him and Bali promised him for whatever he asked. Vamana asked for three paces of land. Bali agreed, and the dwarf then changed his size to that of the giant
Trivikrama form. •
Parashurama: The warrior avatar. He is the son of
Jamadagni and
Renuka and was granted as a boon, an axe after a penance to
Shiva. Once, the king
Kartavirya Arjuna and his hunting party halted at the
ashrama of Jamadagni, the father of Parashurama. The sage was able to feed them all with the aid of the divine cow
Kamadhenu. The king demanded the cow, but Jamadagni refused. Enraged, the king took it by force and destroyed the ashrama and left along with the cow. Parashurama then killed the king at his palace and destroyed his army. In revenge, the sons of Kartavirya killed Jamadagni. Parashurama took a vow to travel across the world twenty-one times and kill every kshatriya king on earth filled five lakes with their blood. Ultimately, his grandfather, the
rishi Ricika, appeared before him and made him halt. He is a
chiranjivi (immortal), and believed to be alive today in penance at
Mahendragiri. He is also credited with creating the coastal belt of
Karnataka and
Kerala by throwing his mighty axe as per Hindu mythology. The place the axe landed in the sea got its water displaced and the land which emerged thus came to be known as the coast of Karnataka and whole of Kerala. with
Lakshmi, his ten avatars above him (annotated), 6th – 8th century
Badami, Karnataka •
Rama: The King of
Ayodhya. He is a commonly worshipped avatar in
Hinduism, and is thought of as the ideal man, and the embodiment of
righteousness. His story is recounted in one of the most widely read scriptures of Hinduism, the
Ramayana. While in exile from his own kingdom with his brother
Lakshmana and wife
Sita, she was abducted by Ravana, a
rakshasa and king of
Lanka. Rama travelled to Lanka, killed Ravana and saved Sita. Rama and Sita returned home and were crowned. The day of the return of Prince Rama to the kingdom of Ayodhya is celebrated in the festival of Diwali all over India. •
Krishna (sometimes at 9 or "0") or
Balarama: • Krishna was the eighth son of
Devaki and
Vasudeva and the foster-son of
Yashoda and
Nanda. A frequently worshipped deity in Hinduism, he is born to slay his tyrannical uncle,
Kamsa. He is a major protagonist of the
Mahabharata, most notably featured in his role as the charioteer of
Arjuna in the
Kurukshetra War. He embodies several qualities such as love, duty, compassion, and playfulness. Krishna's birthday is celebrated every year by Hindus on
Krishna Janmashtami according to the lunisolar Hindu calendar, which falls in late August or early September of the Gregorian calendar. Krishna is usually depicted with a flute in his hand. Krishna is also a central character in Mahabharata,
Bhagavata Purana, and the
Bhagavad Gita. • Balarama, the elder brother of Krishna, is regarded generally as an avatar of
Shesha an extension of Ananta, a form of Vishnu. Balarama is included as the eighth avatar of Vishnu in the
Sri Vaishnava lists, where Buddha is omitted and Krishna appears as the ninth avatar in this list. He is particularly included in the lists where Krishna is removed. •
Buddha; sometimes Krishna, (sometimes at 8 or "0"),
Vithoba, ==Historical development==