Introduction
Varaha, "the boar", is the third avatar of Vishnu. He is the form in which Vishnu lifted the Earth (Bhudevi) out of the cosmic waters on his tusk, after it had been dragged down by the demon Hiranyaksha.
Avatars (avataras, "descents") are the forms in which Vishnu is said to come to the world when dharma is in decline. The idea is stated in the Bhagavad Gita (4.7 to 4.8), where Krishna says that he takes birth in every age to protect the good, destroy the wicked and restore dharma. The most widely accepted list, the Dashavatara, has ten avatars: Matsya (fish), Kurma (tortoise), Varaha (boar), Narasimha (man-lion), Vamana (dwarf), Parashurama, Rama, Krishna, Buddha and Kalki. Other lists exist, for example with Balarama in place of Buddha, and the Bhagavata Purana speaks of twenty-two avatars and says they are innumerable. The Dashavatara is the subject of many temples and works of art, from the rock-cut reliefs of Ellora (the Dashavatara cave) and Mahabalipuram, to Jayadeva's twelfth-century poem the Gita Govinda, which opens with a hymn to the ten avatars.
Family
Early history
The boar has ancient associations. In the Rigveda, a boar named Emusha kills a demon and takes his treasures (RV 1.61.7), and in the Taittiriya Samhita and Shatapatha Brahmana, Prajapati takes the form of a boar to lift the earth from the waters. By the Gupta period, the boar was fully identified with Vishnu, and the Varaha Purana is entirely devoted to him.
The story
Hiranyaksha, a powerful Asura, seized the earth and hid it at the bottom of the cosmic ocean. The gods appealed to Brahma, who sneezed and from his nostril appeared a tiny boar, which grew to an enormous size. Varaha dived to the depths, fought Hiranyaksha for a thousand years, killed him, and raised the earth on his tusks, placing it back on the waters. Bhudevi became his consort in this form. In some versions, Mangala (Mars) is their son.
Iconography
Varaha is shown as a boar, or as a man with a boar's head, with Bhudevi seated on his tusk or in his arm. The Udayagiri caves in Madhya Pradesh have a famous Gupta relief of the fifth century, showing a huge Varaha lifting the Earth, and there are others at Mahabalipuram and Khajuraho. The boar was the royal emblem of the Chalukyas of Badami and of the Vijayanagara kings.
Worship
Important temples include the Sri Varahaswamy Temple at Tirumala, and the Bhuvarahaswami Temple at Srimushnam in Tamil Nadu. Varaha Jayanti is on the third day of the bright half of Bhadrapada.
Meaning
The boar, an animal that digs in the mud, is here the rescuer of the earth from the waters, and is a symbol of Vishnu's determination to support the world.