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Home > Temples of Kerala > Maha Vishnu and his incarnations Maha Vishnu and his incarnationsVishnu, the preserver of the Universe and one of the Trinities is worshipped as early as the Rg- Vedic period. The power of the deity is revealed in four ways viz as full (poorna) energy, the partial (amsa) , the still more partial (kala) and the partial of the partial (kalamsa). Of these the God's'presence (kala and kaldmaa) is seen in many souls but they are short-lived. Great seers, Manus, Devas and sons of Manu fall under the second category of amsaavathaara. They are Sanakan,Sananthan, Sanaathanan, Sanalkumaran, Naarada, Nara-Narayana, Kapilan, Datta threyan, Yanjan, Hrishabhan, Prithu, Mohini, Garuda, Dhanwan -thari, and Vyaasa. The ten incarnations (Dasaavathaara) are Mathsya, Koorma, Varaaha, Naramsimha, Vaamana, Parasurama, Sree Rama, Balabhadra Rama, Sree Krishna and the anticipated avathaar of Khalgi. But for some schools of thought Balarama is not considered among Dasaavathaara. The commonly worshipped avathaars for which temples are seen are for Narasimha, Sree Rama and Sree Krishna. Sree Krishna is however considered as Poorna avathaara in all respects. Apart from swayambhoo, the prathishtas have a definite form falling mostly under nava-thaala which have been dealt with in greater depth earlier. The images ofVishnu are pieces of artistic excellence and great care is taken in carving or moulding these figures. Vishnu idols are generally in standing pose and have four arms, the right upper hand carrying a chakra (wheel) the left upper hand holding a sankh (conch), right lower hand holding padma (lotus) and left lower hand resting over a gada (club). The other features of the idol are yajnopaveetha (sacred thread) across the chest, necklace, keyuras (flat armlets), kankanas (wristlets), udara-bhandha (girdle) and pada-kataka (anklet). Apart from standing pose, Vishnu idols are on sitting pose (as in Sree Ananthapadmagabhaswamy temple, Ananthapura, Kumbla of Kasaragod district). and also in lying pose (Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple, Thiruvavanthapuram). The images ofVishnu in standing poses are either with or without prabhaavali. The appearance of face of the idol differs depending on avathaar. The Mathsya -avathaara idols have face of a fish while for Varaaha -avathara the face is that of a bore. Narasimha images as per sankalpa are unique and they comprise two armed or four-armed seated figures of yoga-patta or four armed figures of sama-bhanga or eight armed figures of terrific action and also with three eyes, sharp projected canines, long blood-coloured tongue and above all the face of a lion with jata matted hair). Mathsya-Puraana, however, describes that the Narasimha image has the face of a lion and human body with eight or four hands. Generally the idols of Narasirilha are in the form of Maha Visht:lu. But there are few excepti~ns to this. The figure of Vaamanamoortthi differs according to sankalpa. The im1.ge of Vaamana is that of a small brahmin boy with yanjopaveetha and having goblet or kumba with nectar 'Or curd in hands. Temples dedicated to Vaamana are rare, the important one being at Thrikkakkara (in EIV-akulam district). Parasurama's face is bearded, with axe as his main weapon and generally in standing pose. These temples are also rare in Kerala, though Kerala is acclaimed as Bhaargava kshethram. The Parasurama temple at Thiruvallam, near Thiruvananthapuram is the most important among them. Sree Rama temples are also 'famous in Kerala but they are also comparatively lesser in number. There are different sankalpas for Sree Rama but the shape of idol is similar to that ofVishnu with the exception of weapons in hands. The main weapons in hands are bow and arrow, but in the sankalpa,as Kharaanthakan the God has sword, triad, a small drum, axe, conch, disc, shield, plough, iron pestle, mace, besides abhaya and varada poses. The idols of Sree Krishna depict various poses of the stages of His life. The idol is similar to that of Vishnu with exception in certain cases where the weapons or objects in His hands are different. Sree Krishna idols are also in the form of Baalavigrahas, Murali-Krishna etc. Baalavigrahas the mostly fall under the category of pancha-thaala while other types fall under nava-thaala. In both the carvings or the mouldings are of high order.
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