Varaha Varaha is the third avatar of Vishnu , a boar sent to defeat Hiranyaksha , a demon who had taken the Earth ( prthivi ) and carried it to the bottom of what is described as the cosmic ocean in the story . The battle between Lord Varaha and Hiranyaksha is believed to have taken place for a thousand years , which the former finally won . Sculpture of varaha from khajuraho Varaha is depicted in art as either purely animal or as being anthropomorphic , having a boar 's head on a man 's body . In the latter form it has four arms , two of which hold the wheel and conch-shell and the other two hold a mace , sword or lotus or form a blessing posture . The earth is held between the boar 's tusks . The avatar symbolizes the resurrection of the earth from a pralaya ( deluge ) and the establishment of a new kalpa ( cycle ) , and can thus be considered to constitute a creation myth . The Varaha purana is a purana in which the form of narration is a recitation by Varaha . A very ancient temple lies in Tamil Nadu goes by the name of Sri Mushnam , and is considered a svayambhu murthi like Tirupati and Badrinath . Other Names Bhoovaraghan Bhuvaraghan Varaghan External links Vishnu as the Boar ( Varaha ) Rescues the Earth Lord Varaha , as one of the faces of Sri Panchamukha AnjaneyaSwami Hinduism | Dashavatara of Vishnu Matsya | Kurma | Varaha | Narasimha | Vamana | Parashurama | Rama | Krishna | Balarama | Buddha | Kalki Hinduism | Hindu mythology | Itihasa Female Deities : Gayatri | Saraswati | Lakshmi | Dakshayani | Parvati | Durga | Shakti | Kali | Sita | Devi | Radha | Mahavidya | more ... Male Deities : Vishnu | Shiva | Rama | Krishna | Ganesha | Kartikeya | Hanuman | Lakshmana | Indra | Surya | more ... Texts : Vedas | Upanishads | Puranas | Ramayana | Mahabharata This box :   view • talk • edit Categories : Forms of Vishnu In other languages : Deutsch | Français | Italiano | 日本語 | Português | Svenska | தமிழ் 