Vishnu

In this devotional sculpture, possibly made for a domestic shrine, the Hindu god Vishnu projects an image of strength and stability, his sturdy body standing firmly and his four arms radiating symmetrically to either side. Revered by his devotees as both personal savior and cosmic preserver, he holds a wheel-shaped weapon (used to defend the righteous against enemies), a conch shell (the primordial sound of which is auspicious), a mace (a scepter-like weapon symbolizing Vishnu’s power), and a spherical object, which for Southeast Asian sculptures is usually interpreted as the orb of the earth, but which may have its origins as a schematic representation of the lotus (Vishnu’s fourth attribute in South Asian images and iconographical texts). Here, as in ...