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Vishnu's avatars Vishnu defeats Mahabali in three steps Seventeenth-century illustration from the Mahabharata showing Krishna, with blue skin, driving a white horse-drawn chariot as Arjuna sits behind him holding a bow. A Nepali devotee stands facing the large, colorful statue of Bhairava at Kala Bhairava temple in Kathmandu, reaching up to perform a ritual with offerings and garlands. Stone relief showing Draupadi standing at the far right beside her five husbands, the Pandavas, at the Dashavatara Temple in Deogarh, India. Krishna and Radha Marble statue of Sri Ramakrishna draped in pink cloth and garlands, seated cross-legged on a white pedestal, surrounded by colorful flower arrangements in a shrine. Avatars in a virtual meeting room
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Vishnu's avatars
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Ganesha. Hinduism. Ganesha, the elephant-headed Hindu god of beginnings, figure on external walls of a South Indian Temple in Kerala, India.
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  • Charles Preston
    Charles Preston is Associate Editor for Religion at Encyclopædia Britannica.
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Article History

Type Description Contributor Date
Added quick fact box. Nov 06, 2026
Modified link of Web site: Academia - A systematic understanding of the evolution of Hindu deities in the development of the concept of avatara (PDF). Jul 10, 2025
Expanded the discussion of the Bhagavad Gita verse and added other examples of avatars. Feb 21, 2025
Add new Web site: IndiaNetzone - Avatara. Mar 07, 2024
Add new Web site: McClintock and Strong Biblical Cyclopedia - Avatar or Avatara. Oct 20, 2023
Add new Web site: Academia - A systematic understanding of the evolution of Hindu deities in the development of the concept of avatara (PDF). Nov 01, 2022
Article revised. Feb 19, 2015
Article revised and romanization changed. Mar 16, 2011
Added new Web site: Friends of Vrindavan - The Ten Avatars. Feb 07, 2007
Article added to new online database. May 27, 1999
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