Boar Avatar

The third avatar, or “incarnation,” of the
god Vishnu. Vishnu takes this form at
the beginning of one of the cosmic ages,
when the process of creation has been
interrupted by the disappearance of the
Earth. The source of this problem is the
demon-king Hiranyaksha, who has
kidnapped the Earth and hidden her in
the depths of the cosmic ocean. Taking
the form of a giant boar, Vishnu dives to
the bottom of the ocean, where he slays
Hiranyaksha, places the Earth on the tip
of his tusk, and lifts her from the waters.
With the reappearance of the Earth, the
process of creation resumes.
It is generally accepted that the
avatar doctrine provided a way to assimilate smaller regional deities into the
larger pantheon by designating them as
forms of Vishnu. This inference is
supported by the Boar avatar, which
seems to have absorbed an ancient cult
in central India by making the boar an
incarnation of Vishnu. In modern times
the Boar avatar is worshiped little,
although it had a significant following
in the past, particularly in central
India. This is partly supported by the
sculptural record; the caves at Ellora
and Udayagiri have particularly
fine sculptural renditions of this
avatar. For further information see
Arthur Llewellyn Basham, The Wonder
That Was India, 1968.