Vishnu as Parasurama
1860
paint
From the collection of Victoria and Albert Museum
1860
paint
From the collection of Victoria and Albert Museum
Vishnu as Parasurama is a 1860 paint by Unknown, a Impressionism work, held at Victoria and Albert Museum.
This painting shows a chaotic battle scene with bright colors and lots of action. A man on a tiger charges forward, swinging an axe, while soldiers on horses and foot fight around him. In the background, a palace with arches and domes sits above a courtyard where more people are scattered. The edges of the painting have a decorative border with patterns. Notice the tiny inset in the corner—it shows a calmer moment with people sitting inside a building, almost like a storybook illustration. This painting mixes wild energy with quiet details. Check out the Victoria and Albert Museum to see more works like this in person.
The painting depicts the sixth incarnation of Vishnu, Parasurama, shown as a blue-skinned figure with gold hair and a tiger-skin garment, slaying the thousand-armed Kshatriya king Kartavirya. The scene unfolds within a walled enclosure featuring red-brick architecture, two gates, angle-turrets, a small pond, and a tree, amid scattered corpses of men, horses, and an elephant. This violent episode follows the murder of Parasurama’s father, Jamadagni, and the theft of the wish-granting cow Surabhi by Kartavirya’s sons. The work is part of a series illustrating the ten avatars of Vishnu.
Read the full account in the museum source.
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