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Home > Temples of Kerala > Other aspects of Vishnu Commonly Worshipped Other aspects of Vishnu Commonly WorshippedOther aspects of Vishnu Commonly WorshippedJagannatha of Puri in Orissa is a Vaisnava deity which draws huge crowds, especially during the annual cart festival. The image appears rather grotesque and is shaped out of a log and has prominent eyes. Once in twelve years the log image is renewed, the log being brought every time mysteriously. The insertion of some ancient relic into the new image sanctifies it. It represents Sri Krishna with similar images representing Balaram and Subhadra (Krishnas sister). Panduranga Vitthala commonly known as Vitthala or Vithoba is the deity of the famous Vishnu temple at Pandharpur in Maharashtra. In fact, the word Vittha is a corrupted form of the word Vishnu. Rakumabai (Rukmini) is his consort standing by his left side. This is the form of the Lord Vishnu revealed to a Brahmana, Pundali by name because of his intense devotion to his parents. Ranganatha, along with Varadaraja of Kanchipuram and Venkatesa of Tirupati, is the most popular aspect of Vishnu worshipped in South India. The well known temple at Srirangam in Tamilnadu is the very heart of the Srivaisnava cult. This temple at least the original icon is said to have been born out of the ocean and given by Sri Rama to Vibhisana. While carrying it from Ayodhya to Lanka, Vibhisana placed it on the ground at the present site, in order to rest a while. Unfortunately for him (and fortunately for others) it got firmly fixed there. The image is of the Yogasayana type (lying on the serpent bed in yoga) with only two hands the right hand apparently supporting the head while the left rests on the serpent bed. The lotus with Brahma, the Ayudhapurusas (the weapons in human form), the demons Madhu and Kaitabha who were killed by him, as also some sages like Bhrgu and Markandeya are often depicted along with the Lord. Similar Yogasayana images are found in Srirangapatna of Karnataka and Thiruvanantapuram of Kerala where it is known as Padmanabha or Anatasayana. Varadaraja, the king among the bestowers of boons, is another aspect of Lord Vishnu which is very popular. Also known as Karivarada, it represents that aspect of the Lord responsible for saving Gajendra, the elephant king, from the death clutches of the crocodile. He is shown as riding on his vehicle Garuda and in the act of discharging the discus. The elephant Gajendra with its foot caught by the powerful teeth of the crocodile is also shown. Sometimes a human figure with its hands in obeisance is also shown near the crocodile, to represent the Gandharva (a demigod) who had been delivered from his curse which had resulted in his birth as a crocodile. The temple of Sri Varadaraja at Kancipuram in South India is one of the most important and famous Vishnu temples. Venkatesam, also known as Venkatesvara Srinivasa or Balaji of Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh is perhaps the most popular of all the Hindu Deities in our country and the temple on the Tirupati hills gets fabulous income. The word Vengadam of Tamil origin signifies a hill. So Venkatesa is the Lord of the hill. The story goes that Lord Vishnu as Varatha (the boar) decides to continue his stay on the earth and that Garuda brought down the hill of Vaikuntha to earth for the Lords residence, Lord Srinivasa or Venkatesa, another aspect of Vishnu, also manifested himself there at that time to reside on the earth for the good of mankind. The image is said to be an Udbhavamurti (spontaneously manifested) and does not conform to known Agama traditions. As regards the exact nature and form of the image, doubts exist, some opining that it represents Harihara, and others considering it as Subrahmanya or even Devi. Visvaksena or the all conquering is an aspect of Vishnu, which occupies the same place in Vaisnava tradition as Ganesha in the Saiva tradition. He is worshipped at the beginning of any undertaking, to avoid obstacles. He is shown with four hands, wearing Sankha, Chakra and Gada in three hands and the fourth exhibiting the Tarjanimudra (threatening finger pose). The right leg is usually hanging down the pedestal. Visvaksena is also depicted sometimes as the gatekeeper or chief attendant of Lord Vishnu. He is shown standing on a white lotus and with long matted hair as also a beard. He represents the worldly sciences. Article courtsey : Sri Ramakrishna Math Mylapore, Chennai. Related Reading
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