Hinduism: All About Lord Vishnu Quiz

Answer: Brahma

Vishnu was asleep for ages upon a thousand-headed serpent, and his consort offered her services to him. When he awakened a lotus flower rose up from his navel. When this flower blossomed, it resulted in the birth of Lord Brahma.

Brahma saw Vishnu after his birth and paid Vishnu his respects. Brahma then started the process of creating the World, with Vishnu's blessing.

Answer: Shesha

Shesha (also known as Adishesha, or Sheshanaga) is a Nagaraja, that is, king of all nagas. Naga are divine or sometimes semi-divine deities, sometimes fully serpent or half serpent, half human.

Shesha is usually portrayed as floating coiled in space, to form a bed for Vishnu to lie on. He holds all the planets together in his hoods, and it is believed that when Shesha uncoils, creation is in abundance and time moves forwards. If he coils back, the universe stops existing.

Answer: Bihar

The 40 cm footprint is one of the major attractions for Hindu pilgrims in Vishnupad Temple. The foot print is immured in a silver basin and indented into solid basalt. Vishnupad Temple is situated on the Falgu River.

Bihar is a state in east India. Its capital city is Patna.

Answer: Lakshmi

Lakshmi is the Hindu goddess of wealth. Vishnu uses her creative energy. She is usually depicted to have four hands. These represent dharma (righteousness), kama (wishes and desires), artha (purpose and meaning) and moksha (enlightenment).

In the Hindu denomination of Shaktism (which is highly goddess-orientated) Lakshmi is worshipped as a mother goddess.

Answer: Garuda

Garuda is a bird-like deity in Hinduism, but it also features in the Jain and Buddhist faiths. In Hinduism, Garuda is a powerful deity whose wing flapping can stop time in Heaven, Hell and Earth. Garuda is usually depicted as a strong man with a golden body, with an eagle's beak and wings.

Garuda is the enemy of the Nagas (snake deities) as he only feeds on snakes. This is thought to be a reference to the short-toed Eagle which is found in India. The image of Garuda is often worn in India as a charm or amulet, used in order to protect the wearer from snake attacks and snake poison.

Answer: Varaha

Varaha is usually said to the the third of Vishnu's ten main avatars. Varaha is mainly known for saving Bhumi (an incarnation of Lakshmi) from oppressive demigod, Hiranyaksha. Bhumi was the Earth goddess, and Earth personified. Hiranyaksha pulled the Earth down deep into the ocean. Vishnu appeared as Varaha to rescue Bhumi and lifted the Earth from the ocean from his tusks, after slaying Hiranyaksha.

Answer: Mohini

Mohini is first seen in the Mahabharata epic, an enchantress who drives both her lovers and demons mad, usually leading them to their demise. She steals back the Amrita (a nectar of immortality) back from the demons (or asura) and gives it back to the gods (devas).

Mohini is also known for slaying the ash demon, Bhasmasura, who had performed servere service and penances to the god Shiva. Shiva was pleased enough with Bhasmasura to grant him the ability turn anyone he touches on the head into ashes. When Bhasmasura tries to use this power on Shiva, Shiva seeks Vishnu's help. Vishnu transforms into Mohini and charms Bhasmasura during a dance to touch his own head, therefore turning himself into ashes.

Answer: Conch

The conch shell that Vishnu holds is a war horn. Vishnu's conch is called "Panchajanya" but the shankha (conch) generally has religious significance in Hinduism. It was used to keep away dangers at sea, blown as a war horn, and is nowadays blown in Hindu temples, particularly during the Hindu ritual of Arti, where light is offered up to various Hindu deities.

Answer: Saraswati

Saraswati is the Hindu goddess of wisdom, art, learning, knowledge and speech. She has four hands which represent mind, intellect, alertness and ego. She argued so frequently with Vishnu's other wives, Ganga and Lakshmi, that Vishnu presented her to Brahma and Ganga to Shiva, keeping the more domesticated and agreeable Lakshmi for himself.

Answer: Matsya

Vishnu made his appearance as Matsya when Manu, son of Vivsavat-Sun, was washing in the river, when a small fish suddenly vaulted into his hand. The fish pleaded with him not to throw him back into the water as monsters in the river could eat him. Manu decided to help the fish, taking him home and putting him in a small bowl. Overnight the fish grew bigger and had to be relocated into a jar, which was also soon too small to contain the growing Matsya. Manu put the fish into a lake, and when it grew bigger still he felt obligated to put it into the sea.

Once Matsya was in the sea, he revealed a prophecy to Manu. He stated that a great flood would soon happen in the world, but told Manu not to worry, for he would send a boat to assist his escape. Matsya told Manu to gather one of each animal of the world, so their species would also survive the catastrophe.

Answer: Vamana

This avatar of Vishnu appeared as a Brahmin dwarf. This dwarf, Vamana, tricked the powerful asura king, Bali, to give him possession of a lot of land. He did this by requesting three steps worth of land. Seeing the dwarf, Bali was amused and agreed to the request.

Then the dwarf suddenly began to grow larger and larger. Vishnu in his true form covered all the land in two steps, and banished Bali with the third.

Answer: Narasimha

Narasimha has the body of a man and the head of a lion. He took this form to fight the powerful demon, Hiranyakashipu. This demon hated Vishnu and his followers and was angry that his son, Prahlada was strongly devoted to Vishnu. Hinranyakashipu was unsuccessful in trying to sway his pious son away from Vishnu, and during a confrontation with his son about his beliefs, Hiranyakashipu smashed his mace against a nearby pillar in a rage.

The pillar split open and emerged a half-man, half-lion with eyes that emitted fire. Narasimha dragged the demon to the palace entrance and tore him to shreds.

Answer: Kurma

Kurma is known for churning the Kshira Sagara (the Ocean of Milk) which is the fifth from the middle of the oceans in Hindu cosmology. The devas and asuras worked to churn the ocean for amrita - the elixir for immortality. This process was started by Vishnu, and the Mount Mandara was used as a churning pole placed on the back of Kurma, with the serpent Vasuki as a churning string.

As the devas as asuras churned the sea, they inadvertently churned up Halahala, a poison with lethal fumes. They gods and the demons, both being affected by it, prayed to Brahma for help, who said that Shiva would be able to help them. Shiva helped them by drinking the poison.

Answer: Kalki

Kalki is the predicted tenth incarnation of Vishnu, yet to appear on this Earth. The prophecy states that at the end of the current Kali yuga (age) when dharma and virtue have vanished in a world ruled by the corrupt, Kalki will appear on a white horse wielding a sword, to defeat the evil of the world, and begin a new age.

Answer: Indonesia

Garuda Wisnu Kencana statue is just over 400 feet (122 m) tall, and is located in the province of Bali, Indonesia. It is almost 100 feet (30 m) higher than the Statue of Liberty, however Garuda Wisnu Kencana is not thin like the Statue of Liberty, with Garuda's wingspan being around 210 feet (65 m) wide. It is the tallest statue in Indonesia, and the tallest statue of a Hindu god.