The story of a fish that saved civilization appears first in Mahabharata and in Satapatha Brahmana. King Manu found a little fish who promised to save him if he protected it. Manu put him in a jar and as it grew, he transferred it to a tank, then river and finally the sea. The fish asked Manu to build a boat and be on it as a great flood was imminent. When the great deluge came, the fish kept the boat safe while all creatures got killed. Now Manu was utterly alone. Matsya blessed him to restart the civilization.
In Matsya Purana the fish saves the Vedas from the demon Hayagriva and then meets King Satyavrata after which the same story unfolds. Bet Dwarka has a Matsya temple (which are rare) which itself suffered a great flood that wiped out Krishna’s clan. The Indian story is different from Noah’s where animals are also saved on the boat. The flood story occurs in every ancient civilization and probably is a real event. It first appeared on Babylonian tablets and the Mesopotamian epic Gilgamesh, in 3rd millenium BCE.
The picture is of VedaNarayanaswamy temple in Nagalapuram, near Tirupati in Andhra. Vishnu appears as Matsya Narayana.

The story of Kurma, the second Vishnu avatara, first appears in Ramayana. The devas lose their power and rush to Vishnu who advises them to collect all plants & herbs and put it into the ocean of milk. Then using Mount Mandara as the churning stick and the divine serpent Vasuki as rope, the devas and asuras churn the ocean. The mountain wouldn’t stay at a place and Vishnu took the Kurma avatara as a tortoise and bore it on his back. This labour created the distinctive marks on a tortoise’s shell.
Besides amrit (nectar) many things & creatures that society of the time valued, came out of the churning. The tortoise perseveres, lives long, is silent and bears a burden on its strong shell – representing how the earth carries creation on its back.
Tortoise is also the vahana (carrier) of River Yamuna.
The picture is from a rare Srikurma temple in Andhra Pradesh

Vaikuntha is Vishnu’s ‘abode of eternal bliss’, the highest spiritual realm. The entrance to this magnificent realm is guarded by the twin deities, Jaya and Vijaya. One day, four spiritually advanced rishis in the form of kids tried to enter Vaikuntha, saying Vishnu is always available for devotees. The guards behaved arrogantly with the kids. The rishis cursed them to lose divinity. Vishnu modified the curse and asked Jaya-Vijaya to spend 7 lives as his devotees on earth or 3 lives as his enemies. Jaya-Vijaya chose the latter. They were born successively as Hiranyaksha & Hiranyakashipu, Ravana & Kumbhakarna (killed by Rama) and Shisuplala & Dantavakra (killed by Krishna).
Picture Credit: Jaya- Vijaya by Deshamukalamu, Instagram

Hayagriva, Vishnu’s horse avatar is not one of the famous ten avataras but part of extended list in different Puranas. There was a demon called Hayagriva who got a boon that he could be killed by someone of the same name. He went berserk and the gods beseeched Vishnu who was fast asleep with his bow lying below his chin.
Brahma told termites to gnaw through the bow’s string so that Vishnu could be woken up. Brahma promised termites that the leftovers of a yajna would be theirs. The termites bit so well that the string snapped and cut off Vishnu’s head. Vishnu replaced his head with that of a horse, became Hayagriva (horse necked) and put an end to the terror of his namesake. In another story, Vishnu assumes this form to retrieve the Vedas.
The picture is of the most famous Hayagriva Madhava temple is near Guwahati, Assam. Built in 1583, it is said to mark the place where Hayagriva rescued the Vedas and is worshipped as bestower of knowledge. The temple’s pond is world famous as a sanctuary of rare black softshell turtles who are treated as Vishnu’s representatives.

Daksha Prajapati, lord of creatures, had 50 daughters, the most brilliant being Sati. She married Shiva. Daksha disliked his ascetic son in law. He didn’t invite him to a yajna in which all gods were invited. Sati nevertheless went to the Yajna and was Insulted. Sati self-immolated in the Yajna. In anger, Shiva created Virabhadra who defeated all the gods, destroyed the yajna and beheaded Daksha. He threw Daksha’s head into the Yajna.
On the pleading of gods, Shiva revived Daksha but since his head was burnt, he replaced it with that of the sacrificial goat.
Sri Aurobindo interprets that Daksha’s arrogant attachment to his brilliant mind is a barrier to spiritual attainment. His beheading represents that the self is not the mind. Spiritual progress requires us to move beyond our minds.
Daksha means ‘skillful’ and shares the Latin root of the English word ‘dexterity’.
The picture is from the Kankhal temple near Haridwar which as the site of the Yajna.
Source: https://renaissance.aurosociety.org

Nandi means happiness, joy, and satisfaction. He is the vahana of Shiva and the guardian of Kailash, Shiva’s abode. In almost all Shiva temples, Nandi is depicted as seated before and focused intently on the Shiva Linga. He represents the individual soul focused on the divine. His four legs symbolize truth, righteousness, peace, and love - the path to liberation. As Shiva’s vahana and gatekeeper, Nandi embodies meditation, patience, and unwavering faith, reminding devotees that the purpose of life is God-realization. Legends say that Nandi was born from a Yajna performed by the Rishi Shilada. Nandi grew as an ardent devotee of Lord Shiva and he performed severe penance to become his vahana, on the banks of river Narmada, at present-day Nandikeshwar Temple, in Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh.
Source: https://www.exoticindiaart.com
The picture is the grand Nandi in Le Pakshi in Andhra.

Adisesha takes the avatara of Lakhmana in Ramayana.
Adisesha was born to Kadru. He is the half brother of Garuda who was born to Kadru’s sister Vinata. Kadru had deceived Vinata and made her a slave. Adisesha was disgusted with this behaviour of his mother and withdrew from the world in a penance. Brahma have him a boon to uphold this earth.
Adisesha is also called Ananta. The name Ananta means endless and represents the endlessness of cosmic time.
Lakshmana is an avatara of Adisesha. In many traditions Balarama is also considered an avatara of Adisesha while some consider Balarama as an avatara of Vishnu himself.
Worship of snakes is popular all over India. In Kerala and Karnataka, there are temples (e.g Mannarsala in Kerala) entirely dedicated to snake deities.
The picture is from Mannarsala temple in Kerala.

Crow is usually associated with departed souls or ancestors.
The crow is believed to be a connection between the living and the departed. It is believed that the dead take food and offerings through a variety of crows of called Bali Kakah. Every year, people whose parents or relatives have died offer food to the crows as well as cows on the day of Shraddhah. This is called Pindadana. Many traditional Hindu homes offer a handful of rice to crows before every meal.
Crows are also considered as the omen of Yama and the Vahana of Shani Bhagwan.
The picture is of Kakabhushandi. In Ramachartimanas, Kakabhushandi is a crow faced sage. He narrates the story of Ramayana to Garuda.

Kamadhenu is a representation of wish fulfilling cow. She came out of the churning of the ocean in the Samudra Manthan episode. She was given to Saptharishis. The name Surabhi is also used for Kamadhenu. Sometimes the name Nandini is also used for Kamadhenu. However in some stories Nandini is the daughter of Kamadhenu. Kamadhenu features in many puranic stories and in Itihaasas. She was also the reason for a major fight between Vishwamitra and Vashishtha. Vishwamitra was impressed by Kamadhenu’s ability to supply food endlessly and tried to abduct her from Vashishtha.
Cow is a revered animal in Hinduism. It appears in early Indus valley seals, in rock paintings and in Vedic literature.
Pashu means cow and is also used to represent the world of animals. Thus Pashupati the name for Shiva means protector of animals. Pashupatinath in Kathmandu is a renowned Shiva temple.
The word Pashu (for cow) and the Latin word pecu share a common root. Impecunious is derived from pecu and denotes poverty. In Hinduism, cow is considered a symbol of wealth.
The picture is Raja Ravi Varma painting of Samudra Manthan

Many forms of Shiva are shown with a stag on his left hand. Sometimes instead of a deer, the Harini Mudra is shown.
This symbolizes that Shiva has conquered the restlessness of the mind (chanchalatha), of thoughts, emotions and distractions. The stag denotes restlessness as it is constantly in a state of alertness and is moving.
Chandrasekhara and Somaskanda are some common forms of Shiva with a stag. Bhairava or Nataraja do not have the stag.
Sometimes the four legs of the stag are also compared to the four Vedas.
The picture is of Somaskanda with the stag

Garuda is the son of Vinata. Kadru and Vinata were sisters and Kadru had enslaved Vinata. Garuda wanted to liberate his mother. Kadru and her Naga sons set a condition that if Garuda brings the Amrit from Devas, they will liberate Garuda’s mother.
In Samudra Manthan, Mohini deceived the Asuras and delivered the Amrit to Devas. Garuda went to Devas and fought a fierce battle with Devas including with Indra. After a heroic effort, Garuda conquered Devas and brought the Amrit and liberated his mother. He also ensured that the Naga sons were not able to drink the Amrit. Garuda is considered as the king of birds and is the Vahana of Vishnu.
Aruna is the brother of Garuda is the charioteer for Surya. Garuda is a popular symbol in the Indian subcontinent and in South East Asia. The national airline of Indonesia is Garuda Air. The special forces of Indian Air Force are called Garud.
The picture is a Raja Ravi Varma painting.

36 years after the great war, Krishna’s Dwarka is destroyed by civil war and floods. Distraught, the Pandavas renounce their kingdom and head north with the idea of going to heaven in their own bodies. Except Yudhistira, all other Pandavas & Draupadi die on the way. A dog accompanies a lonely Yudhistira to the gates of heaven. Indra allows Yudhistira but bars the dog. Yudhistira refuses to enter without the dog. It is then revealed that it is Dharma himself guiding the great king in the form of a Dog.
Dogs normally don’t have such high status in Indian tradition. However, dogs are also depicted as the companion of Shiva and sometimes as his Vahan. The Khandoba tradition in Maharashtra depicts the deity of Khandoba (warrior form of Shiva or Bhairava) riding a horse and accompanied by a dog.
The picture is the book cover of Mallar Chatterjee’s book showing Yudhistira ascending heaven with his dog.