The Hindu deity Vishnu, 1100–1200. India or Bangladesh; northern Bengal. Phyllite. The Avery Brundage Collection Victoria and Albert Museum, London

Hindu god Vishnu with Lakshmi (lower left) and Sarasvati (lower right ).

Vishnu is the god of Preservation, the great maintainer who often appears in various incarnations to save humanity. Two of his most celebrated incarnations are Krishna and Rama.

Here Vishnu stands erect on a double lotus pedestal. Lakshmi is the goddess of beauty and good fortune, to the left. Sarasvati is the goddess of learning, music, and poetry, standing to right with a musical instrument (vina).

Vishnu's vehicle, the bird Garuda, is seen here beneath Lakshmi as a half bird, half human creature with a hooked beak and small wings.

Scholars identify this statue as that of Vishnu by the attributes he holds in his four hands. His two raised arms hold a club and a discus. His lower hands hold a shell and seed. His lower right hand is in the varada mudra (compassion and giving) while the seed signifies sources of agriculture, sustenance and peaceful commerce. The conch shell signifies a means to announce a legitimate, just war. The club and discus signifies tools of war to be used if necessary to preserve mankind and peace.