File:Chaturmurti Vishnu, SPS Museum.jpg

English: Chaturmurti Vishnu,

12th Century AD Stone Verinag, Kashmir, Acc No 3084 Shri Pratap Singh Museum, Srinagar

Vaikuntha Chaturmurti or Vaikuntha Vishnu is a four-headed aspect of the Hindu god Vishnu, mostly found in Kashmir (northern part of the Indian subcontinent). The icon represents Vishnu as the Supreme Being. He has a human head, a lion head, a boar head and a fierce head. Sometimes, even three-headed but aspects of Vishnu where the fierce rear head is dropped are considered to represent Vaikuntha Chaturmurti. Though iconographical treatises describe him to eight-armed, he is often depicted with four. Generally, Vaikuntha Chaturmurti is shown standing but sometimes he is depicted seated on his vahana (mount) Garuda.

Vaikuntha Chaturmurti is generally depicted standing. He wears rich clothes (generally in sculpture, only a dhoti) as well as various ornaments like a crown, armbands, necklaces etc., symbolic of royalty and the yagnopavita (sacred thread). In his eight arms, he is prescribed in the texts to carry gada (mace), sword, arrow and the Sudarshana Chakra in his left hands and shankha (conch), shield, bow and lotus in his right hands. However, in sculpture, he is often four-armed and in two of his hands, he holds a lotus and a conch, while his other hands rest on the heads of his personified weapons (ayudhapurusha) – Gadadevi or Gadanari (gada as a female) on his right and Chakrapurusha on his left, who stand as small figures besides his legs. They both look upwards towards him and hold fly whisks. A tiny figurine of the earth goddess Prithvi (who associated with Varaha and Vishnu as his consort) rises from the pedestal in between his feet, as though supporting the deity.