The word avatara comes from Sanskrit and means a descent: the coming down of the divine into the world for a purpose. In the Vaishnava tradition, Vishnu is said to take birth in different forms whenever the order of the world needs support. The Bhagavad Gita states the idea in a few lines, in chapter 4, where Krishna says that he takes birth in every age to protect the good and restore dharma. The best-known set of such descents is the Dashavatara, “the ten avatars”. This section gives a page to each of the ten, with the story as the Puranas tell it, the festival on which the avatar is remembered, and the main temples.
The ten avatars
Each page opens with the story and then sets out where the sources differ, so that readers from different traditions can find their own version.
| No. | Avatar | Form | The story in one line | Festival |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Matsya | Fish | Saves Manu and the Vedas from the great flood | Matsya Jayanti, Chaitra |
| 2 | Kurma | Tortoise | Bears Mount Mandara at the churning of the ocean | Kurma Jayanti, Vaishakha Purnima |
| 3 | Varaha | Boar | Lifts the earth from the cosmic waters | Varaha Jayanti, Bhadrapada |
| 4 | Narasimha | Man-lion | Protects Prahlada from Hiranyakashipu | Narasimha Jayanti |
| 5 | Vamana | Dwarf Brahmin | Asks King Bali for three steps of land | Vamana Jayanti, Bhadrapada |
| 6 | Parashurama | Sage with an axe | Ends the rule of abusive kings | Parashurama Jayanti, near Akshaya Tritiya |
| 7 | Rama | Prince of Ayodhya | Lives the Ramayana and defeats Ravana | Ram Navami |
| 8 | Krishna | Cowherd, prince and charioteer | Teaches the Gita at Kurukshetra | Janmashtami |
| 9 | Buddha or Balarama | Teacher, or the plough-bearing brother | Where the lists differ | Buddha Purnima, Halashashthi |
| 10 | Kalki | Rider on a white horse | Is to come at the end of the Kali Yuga | Kalki Jayanti, Shravana |
The festival column names the occasion, not a date. Where this site has a festival page, it links to it, and that page gives dates for 49 cities. Matsya, Kurma, Varaha, Vamana, Parashurama and Kalki Jayanti do not have their own date pages yet, so please check your family’s or temple’s panchang for those. Calendars differ on small points and a temple’s custom comes first.
Why the lists differ
The ten are not a single list found in one ancient text. They took their present form over many centuries, and the Puranas and the hymns that give lists do not all agree.
- The ninth place. Many Puranic lists and Jayadeva’s twelfth-century hymn name the Buddha, and others give Balarama in the eighth place with Krishna in the ninth. The page on Buddha or Balarama explains both, and says plainly that Buddhists do not hold the Buddha to be an avatar of Vishnu.
- A longer list. The Bhagavata Purana gives twenty-two forms, including sages, Dhanvantari, Mohini and Vyasa, and adds that Vishnu’s avatars are beyond counting. The ten are the best known, not the only ones.
- Krishna as the source. Several large traditions teach that Krishna is the Supreme Lord and the source of Vishnu and of the avatars, and not one avatar among many. Both views are part of the living tradition.
- Full and empowered forms. Some teachers distinguish avatars in whom the Lord descends in full from those in whom his power enters a living being, the avesha avatars. Parashurama is the usual example.
The ages
The tradition places the avatars in the four ages, the yugas. Matsya, Kurma, Varaha and Narasimha belong to the Satya Yuga, Vamana, Parashurama and Rama to the Treta Yuga, Krishna to the Dvapara Yuga, and the Buddha and Kalki to the Kali Yuga, the present age, with Kalki yet to come. Balarama, if he is counted, belongs with Krishna in the Dvapara Yuga. The scheme is part of the tradition’s own way of telling time and it is given here as tradition.
How to read the stories
The Puranas are sacred narrative, told to teach and to inspire devotion. They are not offered here as history, and they do not promise results. You will also meet modern readings: that the sequence from fish to tortoise to boar to man-lion to human beings mirrors the order of life on earth, or that each avatar answers a particular crisis. These are popular interpretations, not classical teaching, and the texts themselves do not describe the ten as a ladder of development. A reader can hold the stories as devotion, as literature, as philosophy or as culture, and all of these are welcome here. Nothing on these pages compares the avatars, or the traditions that honour them, to the disadvantage of any.
Related guides
- The festivals hub has dates and timings for the Hindu festivals in 49 cities, and the Ekadashi guide covers the fortnightly Vishnu fast.
- The Vishnu Sahasranama and the Achyutashtakam are hymns to Vishnu, and the Bhagavad Gita is given verse by verse.
- The Char Dham guide covers Dwarka, Puri, Badrinath and Rameswaram, which are tied to several of the avatars.
- The puja guides give the steps of worship for Janmashtami, Ram Navami and Ekadashi.
Frequently asked questions
↳ What are the ten avatars of Vishnu?
In the usual list they are Matsya, Kurma, Varaha, Narasimha, Vamana, Parashurama, Rama, Krishna, Buddha and Kalki. Some lists give Balarama in place of Buddha, with Krishna in the ninth place.
↳ Why do some lists include Buddha and others Balarama?
The set of ten took shape over centuries and the Puranas do not all agree. Many Puranic lists and Jayadeva's hymn name the Buddha, while other lists name Balarama, and the Bhagavata Purana names both in a longer list.
↳ Has Kalki already appeared?
No. In the tradition, nine avatars have come and Kalki, the tenth, is the one to come at the end of the Kali Yuga. On the traditional count that is hundreds of thousands of years away.
↳ Are there more than ten avatars?
Yes. The Bhagavata Purana gives a list of twenty-two forms, including Dhanvantari, Mohini and Vyasa, and says that the avatars of Vishnu cannot be counted. The ten are the best known.
↳ Which avatars have festivals?
Each has a jayanti or festival: Narasimha Jayanti, Ram Navami and Janmashtami have date pages on this site for 49 cities, and the others are kept according to the panchang. See the table above for the month and tithi of each.