92 BULLETIN 148, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



the high banded crown, called karandamakuta. The arms are 

 decorated with armlets and wristlets, round the neck are three neck- 

 laces with pendants, and around the loins is an ornamental belt, the 

 ends of which hang down to the feet, all carved. The headgear is 

 painted yellow, the upper part of the body and the arms blue while 

 the lower part of the body, the legs, and the base yellow or buff, 

 with various ornaments, as rosettes, tongue patterns, floral and geo- 

 metrical designs. The upper right hand holds a disk; the upper left, 

 a conch; the lower right arm is in the posture of granting protection 

 (ahhaya mudra); the left in that of gift bestowing (varada mudra). 

 Over the statue is a rounded arch, the lower sides of which terminate 

 in dolphins, resting on slender colunms, while below, behind the lower 

 part of the legs is the mystical bird Garuda, the vehicle or vahan of 

 Vishnu. 



Vishnu is the second member of the Hindu triad or Trimurti, the 

 preserver and conservator of the world. He is supreme god of the 

 Vishnuite sects, who include the middle class and mercantile com- 

 munity. He is the most benignant and humane god in the Hindu 

 pantheon, who, for the sake of mankind, assumed many incarnations 

 (avatars), and with his worship is connected all that is bright and 

 cheerful. One of the most popular festivals connected with the wor- 

 ship of Vishnu (in his incarnation as Krishna) is that of Juggernauth 

 (Jagannath), at Puri in Orissa, when the image of Krishna-Vishnu, 

 called Jagannath, "lord of the world, " is drawn in procession through 

 the streets by thousands of worshipers. 



Vishnu's consort is Lakshmi, the goddess of beauty, matrimony, 

 and prosperity, and their son is Kama (Kamadeva), the god of love. 

 The symbols under which he is revered by the Vishunites are the 

 salagram, ammonite (a fossil shell), and the tulasi plant (Ocimum 

 gratissimum, or sanctum). His sacred animal {vahan or vehicle) 

 is the Garuda, a composite being, half man and half bird. 



Vishnu is usually represented with four arms holding his attrib- 

 utes — 'a conch shell (sankha) ; disk (chakra) ; lotus flower (padma) ; 

 and club, with the jewels syamantaJca upon his wrist and TcanstuhTia 

 on his breast, and his spouse, Lakshmi to his left. Height, 20 feet. 

 Ceylon. (Cat. No. 154977, U.S.N.M.). 



4. Vishnu. — Statuette of marble, painted and gilded. Repre- 

 sented standing with four arms. In the upper two arms he holds the 

 lotus and conch, respectively; the lower right has the club, while the 

 left holding the disk rests upon the head of the diminutive figure of 

 Lakshmi, who stands with hands folded in the attitude of devotion. 

 Height, lOK inches. India. (Cat. No. 154882, U.S.N.M.) 



5. Vishnu. — -Stele of red sandstone, carved in high relief. In the 

 center stands Vishnu, holding in his four hands his attributes, the 

 club, lotus-bud, disk, and the conch shell; above, three small seated 



