South-Indian Images of Gods and Goddesses c8.s7.14

c8.s7.14

The twenty-four well-known names of Vishnu repeated by the Brāhmanas in their daily prayer known as *sandhyāvandana*, are represented each by a standing figure of the god with four hands holding the four symbols *sankha* (conch), *chakra* (discus), *gadā* (club) and *padma* (lotus), in different combinations. Consequently we may often find in Vishnu temples images named Trivikrama, Vāmana, Padmanābha, Narasimha or Krishna represented as plain standing figures of Vishnu, without reference to any of the *Purānic* scenes connected with these gods. Four of the above mentioned twenty-four forms, viz., Vāsudēva, Sankarshana, Pradyumna and Aniruddha are sometimes represented by different weapons.