Vaishnavite textual histories – stretching from the Agni Purana, Vishnudharmottara Purana, Matsya Purana, and other texts –present the boar colossus Varaha, as the powerful third avatar of Vishnu. The ‘sthapati’ from Swamimalai has presented Vishnu’s mythology in a graceful and stylistic manner that evokes the fierce as well as benevolent sides of Varaha. As the half boar half man form of the great preserver of the universe, Varaha’s legend is associated with the defeat of Hiranyaksha and the rescue of the Earth goddess Bhudevi.
Poised on a raised plinth, the figure of Varaha stands proud with one leg on the hood of Shesha, his eternal and primordial devotee (whose coiled body represents the circularity of time). Varaha, wearing a multi-layered conical ‘mukuta,’ holds the Vaishnavite attributes of the ‘Sudarshana Chakra’ and conch, and gestures in the ‘abhaya mudra’ to dispel fear from the devout’s minds and hearts. His lower left hand embraces the seated figure of Bhudevi, who has clasped her hands in the ‘anjali mudra,’ performing a namaskaram.
Varaha’s presentation is simple, and the god wears an inornate ‘dhoti’ and jewellery, but the artisan has gracefully captured the important episode from Vaishnavite tradition that makes this image religiously and aesthetically iconic.
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