Vishnu as Varaha
India, Madhya Pradesh, 10th century
Sandstone
55 in. (139.7 cm)
Gift of David T. Owsley via the Alvin and Lucy Owsley Foundation and the Alconda-Owsley Foundation, E. E. Fogelson and Greer Garson Fogelson Fund, General Acquisitions Fund, Wendover Fund, and gift of Alta Brenner in memory of her daughter Andrea Bernice Brenner-McMullen, 2002.25

The boar-headed deity Varaha is one of the prominent avatars, or incarnations, of the Hindu god Vishnu. In all his avatars, Vishnu, the Protector of the Hindu trinity, reestablishes cosmic harmony after the balance of the universe is disturbed. In the Varaha story, a demon tries to drown the earth goddess, Prithvi, under the sea. She is uplifted and saved by Varaha. This sculpture shows the triumphantly ascendant boar god with Prithvi on his shoulder.