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Vishnu

One of the principal Hindu deities. Vishnu combines many lesser divine figures and native heroes, chiefly through his avatars, notably Rama and Krishna. His appearances are innumerable; he's typically said to have 10 avatars, however not always the same 10. Among the many 1,000 names of Vishnu (repeated as an act of devotion by his worshippers) are Vasudeva, Narayana, and Hari.

Vishnu was not a major deity in the Vedic period. A few Rigvedic hymns (c. 1400-a thousand BCE) associate him with the Solar, and one hymn relates the legend of his three strides across the universe, which shaped the premise of the myth of his avatar Vamana, the dwarf. Legends of figures that later grew to become different avatars, such as the fish that saves humankind from a fantastic flood, are also discovered in the early literature. By the time of the Mahabharata (the great Sanskrit epic that appeared in its remaining type about 400 CE), the avatars started to be recognized with Vishnu. Vishnu is said to manifest a portion of himself anytime he's needed to fight evil and to guard dharma (ethical and non secular legislation). Not all avatars are wholly benevolent; some, akin to Parashurama and Krishna, convey in regards to the demise of many harmless people, and the Buddha corrupts the pious antigods. Vishnu's vahana, his vehicle in the world, is the fowl Garuda; his heaven known as Vaikuntha.

Temple photographs of Vishnu depict him either sitting, usually within the firm of his consorts Lakshmi (also known as Shri) and Bhumidevi (Earth), or reclining on the coils of the serpent Shesha-asleep on the cosmic ocean through the interval between the periodic dissolution and re-manifestation of the world. He is additionally represented in a standing position and dressed in royal clothes, holding in his four (typically two) palms the shankha (conch), chakra (discus), gada (membership), or padma (lotus). On his chest is the curl of hair often called the shrivatsa mark, and round his neck he wears the auspicious jewel Kaustubha. In work, Vishnu is normally shown as dark-complexioned, a distinguishing feature also of a number of of his incarnations.