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Varaha, Boar Incarnation of Vishnu
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art. Free to download, adapt and use — no permission needed.
About this work
The Hindu god Vishnu took the form of a boar to rescue his wife Bhu (Earth in Sanskrit) from the bottom of the primordial ocean, where she had been hidden by a demon. Here shown with the head of a boar and the powerful lunging body of a warrior, Varaha holds out one of his four elbows as a seat for the earth goddess who he has rescued.
Cleveland Museum of Art’s own descriptionCredit lineVaraha, Boar Incarnation of Vishnu (वराह), 700–800s. Central India, probably Madhya Pradesh. Sandstone; overall: 82 x 68.5 x 33.5 cm (32 5/16 x 26 15/16 x 13 3/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Maxeen and John Flower in honor of Dr. Stanislaw Czuma, 2011.148
