- Title
- Varaha, the Boar Avatar of Vishnu
- Date Made
- 3rd century
- Medium
- Mottled red sandstone
- Dimensions
- 22 1/2 x 20 3/8 x 4 1/4 in. (57.15 x 51.75 x 10.8 cm)
- Accession Number
- M.72.53.8
- Collecting Area
- South and Southeast Asian Art
- Curatorial Notes
Varaha is the third incarnation or avatar of Vishnu, the Hindu god of preservation. According to the most common version of the tale, the demon Hiranyaksha had seized the Earth and dragged her to the depths of the cosmic ocean. Under the protection of a boon, Hiranyaksha recited the names of all humans, gods, and other creatures, who thus could not harm him. But he neglected to mention the boar. Upon realizing this, Vishnu manifest himself as a giant boar and dove into the ocean. He killed Hiranyaksha with his tusks and rescued the Earth, here personified as the goddess Bhumi standing on a lotus next to his left shoulder. She grasps Varaha’s snout with her upraised right hand and is being lifted up to the surface of the ocean.
Varaha is depicted in a hybrid form with the head of a boar atop a muscular human body. He has two arms. His right hand rests on his hip and his left on his thigh. He wears a tripartite necklace and a long forest garland (vanamala) that hangs around his shoulders and crosses over his arms above his elbows. It would have originally continued to cross in front of his knees.
