Vishnu #2 - Washington, DC
Posted by: Metro2
N 38° 53.276 W 077° 01.575
18S E 324259 N 4306291
Located in the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery.
Waymark Code: WMRYHC
Location: District of Columbia, United States
Date Posted: 08/22/2016
Views: 2
This sculpture is entitled "Vishnu with Avatars" and is dated to the 11th century. It is made of schist and comes from Bangladesh. The Museum placard indicates that this work was made to standing the niche of a temple.
Wikipedia Wikipedia (
visit link) informs us:
"Vishnu ... is one of the three main male deities in Hinduism. Along with Shiva the destroyer and Brahma the creator, together known as the trimurti. He is the formless Supreme God Svayam Bhagavan of Vaishnavism (one of the principal denominations of Hinduism), and he is also known as Narayana, Vasudeva and Hari. As one of the five primary forms of God in the Smarta tradition, he is conceived as "the Preserver or the Protector".
In Hindu sacred texts, Vishnu is usually depicted as having the dark complexion of water-filled clouds and having four arms. He is depicted as a pale blue being, as are his incarnations Rama and Krishna. He holds a padma (lotus flower) in his lower left hand, the Kaumodaki gada (mace) in his lower right hand, the Panchajanya shankha (conch) in his upper left hand and the discus weapon considered to be the most powerful weapon according to Hindu Religion Sudarshana Chakra in his upper right hand." informs us:
"Vishnu ... is one of the three main male deities in Hinduism. Along with Shiva the destroyer and Brahma the creator, together known as the trimurti. He is the formless Supreme God Svayam Bhagavan of Vaishnavism (one of the principal denominations of Hinduism), and he is also known as Narayana, Vasudeva and Hari. As one of the five primary forms of God in the Smarta tradition, he is conceived as "the Preserver or the Protector".
In Hindu sacred texts, Vishnu is usually depicted as having the dark complexion of water-filled clouds and having four arms. He is depicted as a pale blue being, as are his incarnations Rama and Krishna. He holds a padma (lotus flower) in his lower left hand, the Kaumodaki gada (mace) in his lower right hand, the Panchajanya shankha (conch) in his upper left hand and the discus weapon considered to be the most powerful weapon according to Hindu Religion Sudarshana Chakra in his upper right hand."