ORIGIN: Hindu (Vedic, Epic and Puranic)
TYPE: One of a triad of creator gods
KNOWN PERIOD OF WORSHIP: Possibly from circa 1700 BCE until the present day.
SYNONYMS: appearing as ten major incarnations or avataras: Matsya, Kurma, Varaha, Narasinha, Vamana, Parasurama, Rama, Krsna, or Balarama, Buddha, and Kalki(n). Other epithets include Abjaja, Abjayoni, Adhoksaja, Anantasayana, Aniruddha.
CENTER(S) OF CULT: many sanctuaries throughout the subcontinent.
ART REFERENCES: Sculptures generally in bronze, but also in stone. Reliefs.
LITERARY SOURCES: Rg Veda;; Mahabharata and Ramayana epics Puranic literature.
INFORMATION:
Visnu began, according to the Vedas, as a minor cosmic deity imagined striding the sky in three giant streps—rising, zenith and setting. He was never a solar god, but became briefly associated with the movements of the sun in the sky.
Visnu's prestige developed with the Epics and of the three deities making up the apex of the modern Hindu pantheon, he is the most widely worshiped and preeminent (see also Brahma and Siva). The keeper of civilized morality and order. In the Mahabharata, he is partly identified with Krsna. According to one Puranic legendary source, Visnu was created from the left side of the primordial creator force. The Puranas also provide complex classifications for various aspects of Visnu. His most frequent consort is the goddess of fortune, Laksmi, with whom he is often depicted standing or resting on a lotus. His sacred animal is Garuda.
Visnu is the preserver of the world. He rules real time, or history, and through the concept of karma he maintains a moral balance that he corrects occasionally in the guise of one of his incarnations. He is a chief adversary of Yama, the god of hte dead, and has the power to repel death. He is also closely identified with sacred water or nara, his presence pervading the Ganges. He is beleived to sleep for four months each year, resting on the serpent Sesa with a lotus sprouting from his navel, after which he is roused by a special rite.
The followers of Visnu are the Vaisnavas and are mainly in athe north of India, though there exists a strong following among the Tamils in the south. The Vaisnava caste mark is a V-shaped sign identified with water that has a property of descending.
Visnu is depicted with many heads or with four heads, generally with four arms, typically holding a wide assortment of attributes including conch and prayer wheel. He may also carry a discus, which reflects a destructive aspect, a mace of authority and a lotus. Around his neck may be the sacred stone, the kausrabha, and typically he was an obvious shock of chest hair.