VAMANA (DWARF): When Vishnu first came as a human avatar, he did so to outwit the ruling demon-king, Bali. As a dwarf, he convinced Bali to give him as much land as he could cover in three steps. Immediately, Vishnu transformed himself into a giant, striding across the universe.

PARASHURAMA (RAMA WITH AN AXE): Vishnu returned as Rama with an axe to defeat the ruling warrior class and restore the Brahmins to power.

RAMA (PRINCE): As prince of Ayodya, Rama is the hero of the epic poem, The Ramayana.

KRISHNA (YOUNG HERO AND LOVER): Krishna is considered by many Hindus to be the most important avatar. Fleeing the King (his evil uncle), he was raised in a forest where he slayed many demons.

Eventually, he killed his uncle and restored his kingdom. When he returned to the for-est to battle demons, he was accidentally slain by the arrow of a follower. Krishna’s charm and power are the subject of many stories in Hindu mythology. Here he is in one of his famous poses, dancing upon the head of a tamed snake.

THE BUDDHA: The story of Prince Siddhartha, the Buddha, is told in full in The section on Buddhism.

KALKI: Yet to come, some Hindus believe Kalki will appear upon a white horse, yielding a flaming sword, at the end of time.

There used to be great fighting between the gods and the demons. The demons wanted to prove they were better than the gods, so Vishnu came up with a plan to stop the fighting. There was a pot of liquid that made whoever drank it immortal. Vishnu devised to attach the pot to a long wooden pole and tied 2 ropes to it. The gods and the demons each took one rope and worked together to pull it out. Then they were all going to drink some and then share there power. At least thats what the demons thought. When the pot was pulled out, there was a poison on top of the immortality liquid. Vishnu quickly drank the poison and then the liquid. Since Vishnu was immortal, all the poison did was make him blue. First, he distributed some to the gods. By the time he was done giving some to the gods, there was no more left and the gods defeated the demons.

Shiva: The destroyer

Shiva is the third member of the hindu trinity and is known as the destroyer. He has a third eye and when he opens it, all land turns to water and water turns to land. Hindus believe that Shiva’s powers of destruction are used are used to destroy the imperfections of the
world, paving the way for beneficial change. The destruction is not arbitrary, but constructive. Shiva is seen as both good and evil, and the combiner of contradictory
elements. Shiva lives with his consort, Lakshmi, in the Himalayas.

Once, Parvati asked Shiva why everything had to die. Shiva said that it was a very long story and she had to promise not to fall asleep. Also, those who heard the story would never die. Parvati agreed and Shiva began to recite the tale. And guess what. Parvati fell asleep. On the other hand, two birds heard the story. Shive got mad at the birds and chased them. The birds quickly hid in an old woman’s stomach. 10 years later, the woman begged Shiva to get them out. The birds wouldn’t come out because they were afraid. Shiva told them they were immortal and he could do nothing to them. Shiva blessed them and made it so that a snow shivling formed every winter. When the two birds landed on it, it would melt.