Gods, avatars and forms
Krishna
Vasudeva · Gopala · Govinda · Dwarkadhish
Born in Kamsa's prison at Mathura and carried across the Yamuna to Gokul; the cowherd of Braj, the king of Dwarka, the…
Rama
Ramachandra · Raghava
Prince of Ayodhya and hero of the Ramayana; born to Dasharatha and Kausalya on Chaitra shukla navami, exiled for…
Jagannath
Nila Madhava · Purushottama · Darubrahma
The wooden lord of Puri, worshipped with Balabhadra and Subhadra, whose bodies are carved anew from chosen neem trees…
Venkateswara
Srinivasa · Balaji · Venkatachalapati · Govinda
Vishnu as the lord of the Venkata hill, the temple tradition's answer to why the god left Vaikuntha: after Bhrigu's…
Ranganatha
Sri Ranganathaswamy · Arangan · Periya Perumal
The reclining Vishnu of the Kaveri island, whose image faces south because it refused to move on from Srirangam when…
Vithoba
Vitthala · Panduranga · Pandharinath
The god who stands arms-akimbo on a brick at Pandharpur because the devotee Pundalik, busy serving his parents, tossed…
Narasimha
Nrisimha · the man-lion
The man-lion who bursts from a pillar to kill Hiranyakashipu in a way that slips past every clause of the king's boon…
Jaya and Vijaya
Jaya-Vijaya · dvarapalas of Vaikuntha
The two gatekeepers of Vaikuntha who barred the child-like Kumaras and were cursed to be born away from Vishnu; they…
Padmanabhaswamy
Ananta Padmanabha · Sree Padmanabha
The reclining Vishnu of Travancore, seen through three doors as face, body and feet. Two origin accounts: the Kerala…
Shrinathji
Nathji · Govardhannathji
The Pushtimarg's child Krishna lifting Govardhan, an image held to have emerged of itself from the hill near Mathura —…
Tulsi
Vrinda · Tulasi
Vrinda, wife of the asura Jalandhara, whose chastity shielded him until Vishnu deceived her in his form; she cursed…
Udupi Krishna
Udupi Sri Krishna · Kadagolu Krishna
The child Krishna with a churning rod, found by Madhvacharya inside a lump of gopichandana clay from a ship he had…
Vamana
Trivikrama · Vamanamoorthy
The dwarf brahmin who asks King Bali for three paces of land and then grows to cover heaven and earth in two strides…
Balabhadra (of Puri)
Jagannath's elder brother in the Puri triad, worshipped as Balarama; his chariot Taladhwaja leads the Rath Yatra, and…
Narayana (Anantashayana)
Anantashayana · Padmanabha · Garbhodakashayi Vishnu · Sheshashayi
Vishnu as the cosmic being who rests on the waters. Manusmriti derives the name from the waters (nara) that were his…
Padmavati
Alamelu Manga · Alarmelmangai
Daughter of Akasha Raja and an incarnation of Lakshmi, married to Srinivasa at Narayanavanam; her shrine is at…
Badrinarayan
Badri Vishal · Badrinath (deity)
The small black stone Vishnu of Badrinath, held to be self-manifested and, by tradition, recovered from the Tapt Kund…
Ekadashi (Yogamaya)
The female power that rose from Vishnu while he slept and killed Murasura; he named her Ekadashi and blessed those who…
Guruvayurappan
Guruvayoorappan · Unnikrishnan
The four-armed Vishnu-Krishna of Guruvayur, whose image temple lore traces from Vishnu's own hands in Vaikuntha through…
Parashurama
The axe-bearing brahmin warrior who humbles the kshatriya kings; Kerala and Konkan tradition credit him with raising…
Sita
Rama's wife, found in a furrow and taken to Lanka by Ravana; returns with Rama to Ayodhya on the night the north keeps…
Subhadra (of Puri)
The sister in the Puri triad, riding the chariot Darpadalana between her brothers; her Nabakalebara tree is chosen by a…
Balarama
Balabhadra · Baladeva
Krishna's elder brother, the plough-bearer, who takes the Buddha's place in the southern Sri Vaishnava and Smarta…
Jambavati
Krishna's queen, daughter of the bear-king Jambavan, whose wish for a son like Pradyumna sent Krishna to Upamanyu's…
Kurma
The tortoise avatar whose shell holds up Mount Mandara while gods and demons churn the ocean of milk. Its own cycle…
Nilamadhava
Nila Madhava
The blue-stone image of Vishnu that tradition says the Sabara chief Viswavasu worshipped in secret in the forest before…
Buddha (as avatar)
The Buddha was drawn into the Vaishnava avatar list by about the 8th century, usually in the ninth place. Sri Vaishnava…
Dhanvantari
The physician of the gods who rose from the churned ocean carrying the pot of nectar; the Bhagavata calls him a partial…
Hayagriva
The horse-headed form of Vishnu who, in the Mahabharata's Shanti Parva and the Bhagavata line, kills Madhu and Kaitabha…
Kalki
The future avatar on a white horse who closes the Kali Yuga; the thinnest of the ten in the sources, with the Kalki…
Matsya
The fish avatar who warns Manu of the deluge and tows his boat to safety; rooted in the Shatapatha Brahmana flood story…
Varaha
The boar avatar who lifts the earth goddess Bhumi from the cosmic waters and slays Hiranyaksha, the first hostile birth…
Vishvaksena
Vishnu's gatekeeper and commander. In the Shaiva Bhikshatana cycle he bars the skull-bearing Shiva from Vaikuntha, is…