Elements of Hindu Iconography v4.c25.s3.8

v4.c25.s3.8

(2) The three heads bear only jaṭāmakuṭas which are the characteristic head-gears of Śiva and Brahmā only. Viṣṇu should, under no circumstances, wear a jaṭāmakuṭa, his appropriate head dress being a *kiriṭa-makuṭa*. Hence, even if it is supposed that two out of the three faces are those of Brahmā and Śiva, because they wear the *jaṭāmakuṭas*, the third cannot be identified with that of Viṣṇu for the very reason that its head bears a *jaṭāmakuṭa*.