The Varaha incarnation of Vishnu is traditionally the third incarnation. When the Earth was getting submerged into the waters of chaos and dissolution, Varaha destroyed Hiranyaksha, the asura who was responsible for the chaos. He then plunged into chaos and steadied the Earth between the tusks of the boar. This puranic incident is filled with symbolism. The Varaha sculpture in a way expresses it, taking it to a new height.

There are two forms of Varaha namely Pralaya Varaha and Yajna Varaha. Pralaya Varaha is the Varaha form who lifts the Earth out of the chaos into which it had plunged – it is the usual form we often see. As Yajna Varaha, the lord, here, as the Varaha is Yajna itself. In vedic worldview, it is Yajna that upholds the Earth and its existence.

Yajna is the realisation and expression of Rta, the cosmic order. So, the Varaha who holds and steadies the Earth can be none other than Yajna itself. Yajna is not merely a ritual. It is the re-enactment of the cosmic process and reinforcement of the Rta. Vishnu Purana gives quite a detailed symbolic description of the Varaha with various functional and structural aspects of the Vedic sacrifice.

So, the legs of the boar are the vedas. His thundering voice is the Sama Veda. His tusk like teeth with which he lifts the Earth and balances it are the yupa or the sacrificial poles erected in the Yajna. The mouth is the sacrificial pit. The tongue is, of course, the agni. The entire body is the sacrificial altar.

Now let us look at how Varaha is represented here. This impressive monolith sculpture carries on its body 674 divine forms. The guardian deities of the eight directions, the Nagas, the Kinnaras, the Gandharvas, the Seven Mother Goddesses and so on. At the snout near the mouth one can see the goddess of speech, Saraswati.

In his own way, the sculptor has given us a way to recognise the continuity between the vedic and puranic worldviews. The puranic deities are more crystallised entities representing various aspects of the vedic universe.

Just as Varaha provides a quick identification and experience of the vedic sacrifice that in turn symbolises cosmic existence, both as a presence and a process, the puranic deities represent various aspects of the vedic realm.

A Hindu intuitively understands this continuity — something which is missed by the one ‘educated’ to view it through the Western Indological lens. The sculpture then reminds the alienated ‘educated’ component in us of the continuity.