Mask of Vaikuntha Vishnu, late 5th century. Learn more about 5th century masks
Designed by
An episode in Hindu mythology central to the Vaishnava sect, it narrates the tale of how Vishnu came down to the earth and rescued the elephant Gajendra from the clutches of a crocodile, thus freeing him from the cycle of birth and death. The title of the story, which appears in the Bhagavata Purana, literally translates to “the liberation of Gajendra.”