Haloed Chaturbhuja Vishnu, Of Lifelike Proportions -

Vishnu epitomises motion. The hymns sung to Him in the Vedic yuga and recorded in the Rigveda describes how His three strides are enough to cover the three aspects of ihaloka ie ihaloka in its entirety. In the same hymn it is extolled that He did this in order to rescue us mortals of our inherent distress, towards which cause He has famously descended amongst us in His multiple reincarnations. He is Sheshnag, as He lies peacefully on the giant snake, dreaming up the universe as His wife Devi Lakshmi sits at His feet. He is Narasimha, a ferocious half-man-half-leonine creature that bursts forth from a pillar and tears apart the ahdarmee. He is Rama, the superlative of manhood who enlists a faunal army to rescue His kidnapped wife. He is Krishna, the prince-cowherd as charming in His infancy as in His youth.

The Lord Vishnu is worshipped in all His iconographical beauty, which is brought out with great skill and devotion in this one-of-a-kind larger-than-life Vishnu sculpture. He stands in the fullness of His stature on a blooming lotus, clad in a silk dhoti and angavastram. He is chaturbhuja (four-armed) Vishnu: He holds the discus, the conch, and the goad with three hands, whilst raises the fourth in generous blessing. Streams of gold shringar clothe His torso, while the gold of the engraved sun constitutes His halo. From beneath the kingly crown on His head emerges a cascade of luscious locks down His back. From the overall musculature and the limbs to the features of His composed countenance, this is the most alive murti of Lord Vishnu that there is.