Cite
MLA
“Varaha Avatar.” Hindu History, 2026, https://www.hinduhistory.in/devata/varaha/. Accessed .
APA
Hindu History. (2026). Varaha Avatar. Retrieved , from https://www.hinduhistory.in/devata/varaha/
Boar-headed with a human body, one foot on the serpent king, Bhudevi held on his tusk or on his raised elbow; four arms with conch and discus. Some carvings show him wholly as a boar, his body covered with rows of rishis.
01Raising the earth
The Taittiriya Samhita (7.1.5) says that in the beginning there was only water, and Prajapati became a boar and brought up the earth. The Bhagavata Purana (3.13) tells how a tiny boar the size of a thumb came out of Brahma’s nostril and grew to the size of a mountain while the rishis watched. He plunged into the waters, found the earth at the bottom, and rose with her on his tusks. When the asura Hiranyaksha barred his way, Varaha killed him in a long fight (Bhagavata 3.18–19).
02In stone
Some of the finest early Hindu sculpture is of Varaha. In cave 5 at Udayagiri near Vidisha, cut in 401 CE under Chandragupta II, he lifts Bhudevi from the ocean while rows of devas and rishis look on. At Eran in Madhya Pradesh stands a great free-standing boar of the fifth century, an inscription on its chest. Badami, Mahabalipuram, Ellora and Khajuraho, where a whole shrine holds a monolithic boar, all give him a place of honour. Varaha Jayanti is kept on Bhadrapada Shukla Tritiya.
03Srimushnam and Tirumala
At Srimushnam in Tamil Nadu he is worshipped as Bhuvaraha, a swayambhu murti, and his festival image travels out to the sea for the Masi Magam bath. At Tirumala, tradition holds that the hill belonged to Varaha before Srinivasa came, and pilgrims are asked to take darshan of Adi Varaha Swamy beside the Swami Pushkarini first. At Thiruvidanthai near Chennai he holds Bhudevi on his lap as Nithyakalyana Perumal, and at Simhachalam he is joined with Narasimha in one murti.
In the texts
- Taittiriya Samhita 7.1.5
- Bhagavata Purana 3.13 and 3.18–19
- Varaha Purana
