Avatar |VARAH | Lord Vishnu | dashavatara | दशा अवतार विष्णु

Varaha (Sanskrit: वराह, "boar") is the avatar of the Hindu god Vishnu in the form of a boar. Varaha is listed as third in the Dashavatara, the ten principal avatars of Vishnu. When the demon Hiranyaksha stole the earth and hid her in the primordial waters, Vishnu appeared as Varaha to rescue her. Varaha slew the demon and retrieved the Earth from the ocean, lifting it on his tusks, and restored Bhudevi to her place in the universe. Varaha may be depicted completely as a boar or in an anthropomorphic form, with a boar's head and human body. His consort, Bhudevi, the earth, is often depicted as a young woman, lifted by Varaha. The earth may be depicted as a mass of land too. Like Vishnu's first two avatars - Matsya and Kurma , the third avatar Varaha is depicted either in zoomorphic form as an animal , or anthropomorphically. The main difference in the anthropomorphic form portrayal is that the first two avatars are depicted with a torso of a man and the bottom half as animal, while Varaha has an animal head and a human body.[1][2] The portrayal of the anthropomorphic Varaha is similar to the fourth avatar Narasimha , who is the first avatar of Vishnu that is not completely animal. Zoomorphic Varaha, Khajuraho. In the zoomorphic form, Varaha is often depicted as a free-standing boar colossus, for example, the monolithic sculpture of Varaha in Khajuraho (c. 900-925) made in sandstone, is 2.6 metres (8 ft 6 in) long and 1.7 metres (5 ft 7 in) high. The sculpture may not resemble a boar realistically, and may have his features altered for stylistic purposes. The earth, personified as the goddess Bhudevi, clings to one of Varaha's tusks. Often the colossus is decorated by miniature figurines of gods and goddesses and other world creatures appearing all over his body, which signify the whole of creation. Such sculptures are found in Eran, Muradpur, Badoh, Gwalior, Jhansi and Apasadh. In the anthropomorphic form, Varaha often has a stylized boar face, like the zoomorphic models. The snout may be shorter. The position and size of the tusks may also be altered. The ears, cheeks and eyes are generally based on human ones. Early sculptors in Udayagiri and Eran faced the issue of how to attach the boar head to the human body and did not show a human neck. However, in Badami, the problem was resolved by including a human neck. While some sculptures show a mane, it is dropped and replaced by a high conical crown - typical of Vishnu iconography - in others. Varaha sculptures generally look up to the right; there are very rare instances of left-facing Varaha depictions. Varaha has four arms, two of which hold the Sudarshana chakra and shankha , while the other two hold a gada , a sword, or a lotus or one of them makes the varadamudra (gesture of blessing). Varaha may be depicted with all of Vishnu'a attributes in his four hands: the Sudarshana chakra, the shankha, the gada and the lotus. Sometimes, Varaha may carry only two of Vishnu's attributes: a shankha and the gada personified as a female called Gadadevi. Varaha is often shown with a muscular physique and in a heroic pose. He is often depicted triumphantly emerging from the ocean as he rescues the earth. A rare left-facing Varaha holding Bhudevi, 7th century CE, Mahabalipuram. The earth may be personified as the goddess Bhudevi in Indian sculpture. Bhudevi is often shown as a small figure in the icon. She may be seated on or dangling from one of Varaha's tusks, or is seated on the corner of his folded elbow or his shoulder and supports herself against the tusk or the snout, as being lifted from the waters. In later Indian paintings, the whole earth or a part of it is depicted lifted up by Varaha's tusks. In Mahabalipuram, a rare portrayal shows an affectionate Varaha looking down to Bhudevi, who he carries in his arms. The earth may be portrayed as a globe, a flat stretch of mountainous land or an elaborate forest landscape with buildings, temples, humans, birds and animals. The defeated demon may be depicted trampled under Varaha's feet or being killed in combat by Varaha's gada. Nagas (snake gods) and their consorts Naginis (snake goddesses), residents of the underworld, may be depicted as swimming in the ocean with hands folded as a mark of devotion. Varaha may be also depicted standing on a snake or other minor creatures, denoting the cosmic waters. Two iconographical forms of Varaha are popular. Yajna Varaha - denoting Yajna (sacrifice) - is seated on a lion-throne and flanked by his consorts Bhudevi and Lakshmi. As Pralaya Varaha - indicative of lifting the earth from the stage of the pralaya (the dissolution of the universe), he is depicted only with Bhudevi.Varaha may be depicted with Lakshmi alone too. In such sculptures, he may be depicted identical to Vishnu in terms of iconography with Vishnu's attributes; the boar head identifying the icon as Varaha. Lakshmi may be seated on his thigh in such portrayals.