This rare bronze statue features a distinctive representation of Lakshmi-Varaha in the traditional Swamimalai bronze iconography.
Enthroned on Adishesha, Sri Varaha is balancing on the back of a turtle or Kurma while holding the goddess Lakshmi in his lap.
According to Hindu mythology, Vishnu is a turtle in his Kurma (turtle) form, in which the Lord bears the cosmic mountain on his back while gods and demons support Samudra-Manthan, the great churning of the ocean.
Kurma, or turtle, became identified with the eternal balance of the universe, the bearer of cosmic order, and the foundation or support upon which the celestial event rested.
This aspect is also connected to Vishnu's boar or Varaha form. It is said that Vishnu, who transformed into the cosmic boar, saved the Earth goddess from the ocean's depths and brought harmony back to the cosmos. Varaha and Kurma have been portrayed in the Panchaloha at the same time, with common themes in both incarnations being the ocean, maintaining cosmic balance, and ordering the universe.
Supporting the composition as the Kurma or turtle, from whose back sprouts a lotus—a symbol of the beginning of creation—Varaha, who holds the Universal abundance and auspiciousness as Sri Lakshmi, becomes the abode of sacredness while sitting on the coils of Adi Shesha, which is symbolic of all that is left or Shesha after the deluge and at the beginning of creation.
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