Vishnu

His name is understood to mean 'the one who pervades everything'. In the Rig Veda, Vishnu measures the three worlds in three great strides. In later scriptures he is Narayan, who rests on the thousand-hooded serpent Shesha on the Ocean of Milk. A lotus rises from his navel, and on it Brahma is born to create the world. That is why he is called Padmanabha.

Tradition says that whenever dharma declines, Vishnu comes down to set it right. In the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna says, "Whenever dharma fades, I take birth, age after age." The Dashavatara, his ten main avatars, are Matsya the fish, Kurma the tortoise, Varaha the boar, Narasimha the man-lion, Vamana the dwarf, Parashurama, Rama, Krishna, Balarama or the Buddha, and Kalki, who is still to come. Some lists name Balarama and others name the Buddha.

He holds the conch, the discus Sudarshana, the mace and the lotus. He wears yellow silk and the Kaustubha gem, and rides the eagle Garuda. Lakshmi is always with him, and the two are worshipped together as Lakshmi Narayan. In the Satyanarayan katha he is worshipped as the Lord of truth.

Many families end their puja with the aarti "Om Jai Jagdish Hare", keep the Ekadashi fast and read the Vishnu Sahasranama. He has many names across India. In the south he is Perumal, Ranganatha at Srirangam and Venkateswara at Tirumala. In Odisha he is Jagannath of Puri, and in Maharashtra, Vitthal of Pandharpur.