Dashavatara stories
One day the king Manu found a tiny fish. The fish asked him "Please don't leave me! A big fish eat me" so the king Manu put the fish in a bowl and took to his palace.
Next day….
The fish said "Oops! I became too big" so the king moved it to a bucket.
Next day….
Fish said "again it is too small again!"
From bucket! To pond! To river! To ocean!
Later one day the king Manu scratched his head asked the fish "are you eating any magical laddus?"
For that the fish laughed ad replied "I am load Vishnu!"
In few days there was a flood. He Matsya pulled the kings boat safely through the water and saved everyone.
Temple: Matsya Narayana Temple located at Nagalapuram, Andhra Pradesh
Fact about the temple: one of the few temples dedicated to Matsya Avatar. During the annual festival, the sun’s rays fall directly on the deity.
The gods and demons wanted magical nectar. They used a huge mountain as a giant mixer.
But mountain started to sink
Everyone panicked then….
The tortoise move over! I’ve got this!”
(where load Vishu had become a giant tortoise and carried the mountain on his shell)
The mountain stopped wobbling
The Kurma (tortoise): "Who's ready for some ocean smoothie?”
Soon the magical nectar appeared.
Temple: Sri Kurmanatha Swamy Temple located at Srikurmam, Andhra Pradesh
Fact about the temple: the world’s only major temple dedicated to kurma(Tortoise) Avatar.
The naughty demon Hiranyaksha stole the earth and hid it deep inside the ocean
Everyone looked around and asked “where did the earth go?”
Then a giant boar appeared and he dived into the ocean till he “found the earth”
He gently lifted earth on his tusks. The demon tried to stop him and replied “nice try!”
There was a powerful fight later…
And the earth was back to the place where it belonged.
Temple: Sri Bhu Varahaswamy temple located at Tirumala, Andhra Pradesh
Fact about the temple: Pilgrims traditionally worship Varaha Swamy before visiting Lord Venkateshwara.
King Hiranyakashipu thought he was impossible to defeat and he said proudly, “nobody can beat me!”
His son Prahlada smiled “lord Vishnu will always protect me” the angry king pointed at a pillar, “is your god inside this pillar?”
Prahlada nodded and soon the king cracked the pillar and broke open
Out jumped the Narasimha! (who was half lion half man)
The king couldn’t believe his eyes. “wait… that’s not my safety plan!”
Narasimha defeated the evil king and saved Prahlada.
Temple: Ahobilam Lakshmi Narasimha temple located at Nandyal, Andhra Pradesh
Fact about the temple: Famous as the place where Narasimha is believed to have appeared. There are nine forms of Nava Narasimha.
the king Mahabali loved giving gifts. One day, a tiny boy arrived and asked him “can I have just three steps of land?”
king Mahabali laughed and asked him “only three? Take it”
suddenly the tiny boy became huge!
First step… covered earth. Second step… covered heaven
Vamana smiled “now… where should I keep my third step”
Mahabali bowed “oh my head”
Lord Vishnu blessed him for being humble.
Temple:
Thrikkakara Vamana Moorthy Temple located at Kochi, Kerala
Fact about the temple: closely associated with the king Mahabali and the festival of Onam.
Long ago some kings became very proud. They bullied everyone.
So, every people cried for “somebody help!”
Suddenly… A brave warrior appeared carrying a shiny axe. It was lord Vishnu as Parashurama.
The proud kings laughed and said “it’s just one man with an axe!”
For this Parashuram smiled and replied “Oh? Let’s see!” in no time, the kings ran away, by saying “we’re sorry!”
Later the peace returned to the kingdom
Temple: Thiruvallam Parasurama Temple located at Thiruvanthapuram, Kerala
Fact about the temple: One of the few temples dedicated to Parashuram
Prince Rama was brave, kind and loved by everyone. But one day.
The demon king Ravana kidnapped Sita
Rama said “time for a rescue mission!”
For which we teamed up with the hanuman and an army of the monkeys.
The monkey army said “let’s build a bridge!”
By keeping stone after stone… splash... float!
Soon the bridge reached Lanka
After the great battle… Rama defeated Ravana and brought Sita to home
Everyone cheered! The king and “welcome them back”
Temple: Ramaswamy temple located at Kumbakonam, Tamil Nadu
Fact about the temple: the place was dedicated to load Rama along with Sita, Lakshmana, Bharatha, Shatrughna and Hanuman
Balarama loved farming but, don’t mistake him for an ordinary farmer!
He carried a giant plough.
One day someone laughed, and said “why you carry farmer tool?”
Balarama smiled and said “this isn’t just for farming!”
With his mighty plough, he protected people and even changed the course of rivers.
Everyone stared and replied “that’s one powerful farmer!”
Temple: Baladevjew Temple located at Kendrapara, Odisha
Fact about the temple: One of the India’s largest and famous temple dedicated to the Load Balarama.
Little Krishna loved butter. Every house hid their butter pots
Krishna looked up and said “challenge accepted” he and his friends climbed on each other’s shoulders for the butter…
Found it! The ladies complained to mother Yashoda saying “he stole our butter again!”
Yashoda asked “Krishna… did you?”
Krishna smiled with butter all over in his face
And replied “who… me”
Everyone burst into laughter.
Later, Krishna grew up and defeated many evil kings while teaching the world about love and duty.
Temple:
Sri Krishna temple located at Udupi, Karnataka
Fact about the temple: it was established by the Sri Madhvacharya and one of the most famous Krishna temples in India
This story hasn’t happened yet!
People asked “when will Kalki come?”
The answer is “when the world is filled with too much evil”
One day… A warrior riding a white house will arrive
He will chase away injustice and bring peace back to the world
Children asked “has he come yet?”
Answer was “nope! Were still waiting.
Temple: Sri Kalki Dham located in Sambhal, Uttar Pradesh
Fact about this temple: dedicated to the future avatar, Kalki, who is believed to appear at the end of Kali yuga