Play our free fortnightly contest and get a chance to win a 5 x 7 inch version of this beautiful painting. All you have to do is answer a simple question about our website.
You can go to a specific sub-category of Vishnu using the
navigation bar on the left.
In India, Lord Vishnu is worshiped primarily as Avatar, or incarnations, particularly as Rama and Krishna, the principal characters of the epics Ramayana and Mahabharata. The preserver god of the Trinity Vishnu has four hands. The first holds a conch shell (sankha) indicating spread of the divine sound "Om"; one holds a discus (chakra), a reminder of the wheel of time, and to lead a good life; one holds a lotus (Padma) which is an example of glorious existence and the fourth hands holds a mace (gada) indicating the power and the punishing capacity of the Lord if discipline in life is ignored.
His vehicle is the swift-flying bird Garuda that can spread the Vedic knowledge with great courage. The dark color of the Lord represents the passive and formless ether, a great quality for a pervading god. He rests on the bed of the powerful, coiled serpent with 1000 head, Seshanag who represents the sleeping universe. Lord Vishnu is also known as Hari, the remover.
Lord Vishnu's consort is Goddess Lakshmi, the Goddess of Wealth
Vishnu is the Lord of protection & maintenance. His consort Lakshmi is the possessor of wealth, which is a necessity for maintenance. Goddess Lakshmi represents not only material wealth, but also the wealth of grains, courage, and velour, offspring's, success, and luxurious life, eternal bliss.
Any time Lord Vishnu sees great trouble, He takes an incarnation or avatara to rescue the people from evils. He is merciful, ever rushing to serve his devotees. Some of the main incarnations of Vishnu are enumerated as the Dasavatar (10 Incarnations).
