Description401 CE Udayagiri Varaha Relief annotated.jpg
English: The Varaha panel at the Hindu Udayagiri Caves is one of the most studied examples from the Gupta Empire era. It narrates the Hindu mythology about a man-boar avatar of Vishnu (Varaha) rescuing goddess earth (Bhudevi, Prithivi) from the depths of cosmic ocean. The panel embeds many characters from the ancient legend. These appear to the all around Varaha and the delicately hanging goddess. The characters are marked above as follows:
1: Vishnu as Varaha
2: Goddess earth as Prithivi
3: Brahma (sitting on lotus)
4: Shiva (sitting on Nandi)
5: Adityas (all have solar halos)
6: Agni (hair on fire)
7: Vayu (hair airy, puffed up)
8: Ashtavasus (with 6&7, see Vishnu Purana)
9: Ekadasa or eleven Rudras (ithyphalic, third eye visible in some cases)
10: Ganadevatas
11: Rishis (Vedic sages of Hindu texts, each wearing barks of trees, a beard, carrying water pot and rosary beads for meditation)
12: Samudra
13: Gupta Empire minister Virasena
14: Gupta Empire king Chandragupta II
15: Nagadeva
16: Lakshmi
17: More Hindu sages (incomplete photo; these include the Vedic Saptarishis)
18: Sage Narada playing guitar
19: Sage Tumburu playing Vina
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