The Hindu deity Vishnu

Extraordinary physical features, such as the four arms of this male figure, usually distinguish Hindu deities from ordinary human beings. Details such as clothing, headdress, and weapons identify individual gods and often convey complex religious and philosophical meanings.

Outfitted in this image with a crown, garland, and jewelry, Vishnu is a kingly figure. The wheel-like war discus (chakra) beneath his lower left hand emphasizes this association. While the chakra is one of Vishnu’s standard weapons, it is also the emblem of a universal sovereign, envisioned in the Indian cultural world as a “wheel turner” (chakravartin), whose chariot wheels convey him upon his conquests.

Buddhist sculptures in this gallery and the next make similar use of wheel imagery. Wheels frequently appear on the palms and soles of these images, identifying the Buddha as a universal sovereign. That his is a spiritual, rather than military, conquest is indicated by numerous images that equate the Buddha’s preaching with the turning of a wheel.