SOUTH INDIA, TAMIL NADU, VIJAYANAGARA PERIOD, 15TH-16TH CENTURY

This small, charming bronze figure depicts Varaha, the boar-headed avatar of Vishnu, with the goddess Prithvi seated on his knee. After waging war on Heaven, the demon Hiranyaksha Vishnu to a duel by abducting his consort Bhumi, the Earth Goddess, and hiding her at the bottom of the ocean. Vishnu, in his third avatar of Varaha, immediately shot out of Brahma's nose and dove into the ocean to rescue her. He lifted her up by his tusks and ascended to the surface. Once safely above water, Varaha used his chakra to disarm and destroy the demon. For an iconic example of this type, see late Chola-period bronze group of Varaha and Bhumi in the Victoria and Albert Museum (acc. no. IM.6-1924), in V. Dehejia, Chola: Sacred Bronzes of Southern India, London, 2006, p. 117, cat. 21, no. 61.