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SOUTH-INDIAN IMAGES Uis ten incarnations. VARAHA or Boar incar- nation.

from Ariyambakkam in the Chingleput district illustrates the sitting form of Vishnu with the goddesses Sri and Bhu and two kneeling devotees.

The more popular forms of Vishnu, worshipped in the temples, generally refer to his numerous avatars or incarna- tions. There are ten such avatars recognized as of primary importance ; but of these only five are commonly represented for worship. They are (l) Varaha "the Boar incarnation "; (2) Narasimha " the Man-lion incarnation " ; (3) Vamana " the Dwarf incarnation, " developing eventually into Trivikrama ; (4) Rama, the hero of the Rdmayana ; and (5) Krishna, the pastoral god and the chief actor in the great war of the Mahabharata. The other five incarnations of Vishnu, viz., the Fish, the Tortoise, Parasurama, Buddha and Kalki though represented largely on walls, pillars and ceilings of temples being either carved or painted, are not generally worshipped as the chief deity in a temple. 1

Varaha, also known as Adivaraha, Dharanlvaraha or Bhuvaraha, is beautifully illustrated by the image in the Varaha-Perumal cave-temple at Mahabalipuram. Here the boar-faced Vishnu is seen standing with his right foot resting on the hood of the serpent-god Sesha. On the right thigh is seated the godde:-s Earth, 2 supported in position by the two lower arms of the god. He wears a high crown and has in his two upper hands the discus (held sideways) and the conch. As these images however have recently been covered with a thin coating of plaster and painted fantastically in variegated colours, it is not possible to say what sculptural peculiarities the original may have exhibited. Fortunately, a panel representing this same Varah a- avatar of Vishnu (fig. 15) with attendant deities, is found in another rock-cut mandapa at that village and is decidedly a true copy of the sculptures

1 Parasurama, " the a^e-l-tarer, Rama is supposed to be the founder of the west-coast country, having miraculously reclaimed it from the encroaching sea. He is, therefore, often worshipped in Malabar in special shrines dedicated to him. Siva temples with the name Parasurametvara are common and these are believed to owe their existence to Parasurama. In the Kachchhapesvara temple at Conjee- veram, on a stone set up under a tree, there is a representation of the Tortoise incarnation of Vishnu, worshipping Siva. This is reproduced by Mr. Rea in his Madras Archaeological Survey Report for 1910-1;, Plate V, fig. i.

2 The Brahmiya-Silfra slates that Lakshmi (i.e. Sri) is also to be depicted on the side of Varaha.