South-Indian Images of Gods and Goddesses

Vishnu temples may also show the symbols of the conch and the discus and the caste mark (namand of the Vaishnavas painted on the walls. [...] The following ornaments are seen in a finished picture of Brahma :—(I) ear-rings or pendants fashioned like the face of a crocodile ; (2) the sacred thread yajnasitra hanging right across the body from above the left shoulder ; (3) the scarf (uttariya) thrown round the neck so as to stretch down to the knees ; (4) the udarbandhanat or literally a girdle going round the belly;. [...] The general description of Vishnu without reference to any of his particular incarnations is given in the Manasara as follows :—He has four arms and two eyes wears a high crown and a yellow scarf ; on his breast is the auspicious mark Srivatsa; he holds the discus and the conch in his upper arms and the club and the sword (or lotus) in the lower and wears the garland (vanamala) of flowers reachi [...] The devas worshipping the god from above the sages on the right and Brahma and Siva on the left indicate the joy felt by the entire universe on this occasion. [...] In his two other hands he holds the symbols of the club and the discus." The Mayamata while giving almost 1 A detailed description of the images in the rock-cut temples at Namakkal is given in the Madras Epigraphical Report for 1906 Part If.