Vishnu Incarnations - Rishikesh, Uttarakhand, India - Statues of Religious Figures on Waymarking.com

Rishikesh is a city in Dehradun district of the Indian state of Uttarakhand. Located in the foothills of the Himalayas in northern India, it is known as The Gateway to the Garhwal Himalayas and Yoga Capital of the World. It is a holy city for Hindus and a famous centre of pilgrimage. Rishikesh catapulted to Western fame when the Beatles dropped by for a visit to Maharishi Mahesh Yogi's ashram in 1968.

Founded in 1942 by Pujya Swami Shukdevanandji Maharaj, Parmarth Niketan is the largest ashram in Rishikesh with over 1000 rooms. The statue of Hanuman and the statue of Lord Shiva are two beautiful attractions in Parmarth Niketan Ashram.

Vishnu is the supreme God in the Vaishnavite tradition of Hinduism. Smarta followers of Adi Shankara, among others, venerate Vishnu as one of the five primary forms of God. Vishnu is usually depicted with four arms, though sometimes he may have more than this number.

In almost all Hindu denominations, Vishnu is either worshipped directly or in the form of his ten avatars, the most famous of whom are Rama and Krishna.

Among the ten, nine have occurred in the past and one will take place in the future as Lord Kalki, at the end of Kali Yuga, (the fourth and final stage in the cycle of yugas that the world goes through). These incarnations take place in all Yugas in cosmic scales; the avatars and their stories show that gods are indeed unimaginable, unthinkable and inconceivable. The Bhagavad Gita mentions their purpose as being to rejuvenate Dharma, to vanquish those negative forces of evil that threaten dharma, and also to display His divine nature in front of all souls.

Another 22 avatars are given in Chapter 3, Canto 1 of the Bhagavata Purana, although it states that "the incarnations of the Lord are innumerable, like rivulets flowing from inexhaustible sources of water".

The statues are presented in a glass display at the Parmath Niketan Ashram. I did not count the statues but there were more than 10 of them. The total number is probably over 20. We visited this display after the Aarti Celebration at the Parmath Ashram Ghat in the early evening.

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Associated Religion(s): Hinduism Statue Location: Parmath Niketan Ashram in Rishikesh Entrance Fee: None Artist: Unknown Website: Not listed

Visit Instructions:
Take a picture of the statue. A waymarker and/or GPSr is not required to be in the image but it doesn't hurt.

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Date Logged Log   12/23/2012 JeanPierre12 visited it