Editing Varaha (section)

==Evolution==
[[File:VarahaVishnuAvatarPratiharaKings850-900CE.jpg|thumb|Coin with Varaha on a Gurjara-Pratihara coin possibly from the reign of King Mihira Bhoja, 850–900 CE, [[British Museum]].]]

The earliest Varaha images are found in [[Mathura]], dating to the 1st and 2nd century CE.<ref name="Dalal2011"/> The [[Gupta period|Gupta era]] (4th–6th century) in Central India temples and archaeological sites have yielded a large number of Varaha sculptures and inscriptions; signifying cult worship of the deity in this period.<ref name="Blurton1993"/><ref name="Krishna46">[[#Krishna|Krishna]] 2009, p. 46</ref> These include the anthropomorphic version in [[Udayagiri Caves]] and the zoomorphic version in [[Eran]].<ref name="Dalal2011"/><ref name="Stietencron22">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UesUAAAAIAAJ|title=Approaches to Iconology|author=H. von Stietencron|publisher=Brill Academic|year=1986|isbn=90-04-07772-3|editor=Th. P. van Baaren|pages=16–22 with footnotes|editor2=A Schimmel|display-editors=etal}}</ref><ref name=becker123>Catherine Becker (2010), [https://www.jstor.org/stable/20801634 Not Your Average Boar: The Colossal Varaha at Eran, An Iconographic Innovation], Artibus Asiae, Vol. 70, No. 1, "To My Mind": Studies in South Asian Art History in Honor of Joanna Gottfried Williams. Part II (2010), pp. 123–149</ref> Other early sculptures exist in the cave temples in [[Badami]] in [[Karnataka]] (6th century) and [[Varaha Cave Temple]] in [[Mahabalipuram]] (7th century); both in South India and [[Ellora Caves]] (7th century) in Western India.<ref name="Dalal2011"/><ref name="Geer2008"/> By the 7th century, images of Varaha were found in all regions of India, including [[Kashmir]] in the north.<ref name="Dalal2011"/><ref name="Blurton1993"/> By the 10th century, temples dedicated to Varaha were established in [[Varaha Temple, Khajuraho|Khajuraho]] (existent, but worship has ceased), [[Udaipur]], [[Jhansi]] (now in ruins) etc.<ref name="Dalal2011"/><ref name="Krishna46"/> The boar was celebrated in the first millennium as a "symbol of potency".<ref name="Blurton1993" />

The [[Chalukya dynasty]] (543–753) was the first dynasty to adopt Varaha in their crest and minted coins with Varaha on it.<ref name="Dikshit1980">{{cite book|author=Durga Prasad Dikshit|title=Political History of the Chālukyas of Badami|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lEB11tKmCgcC&pg=PA11|access-date=5 January 2013|year=1980|publisher=Abhinav Publications|pages=11–2|id=GGKEY:PW8B49QWQ4H}}</ref> The [[Gurjara-Pratihara]] king [[Mihira Bhoja]] (836–885 CE) assumed the title of ''Adi-varaha'' and also minted coins depicting the Varaha image.<ref name="Dalal2011"/> Varaha was also adopted as a part of royal insignia by the [[Chola]] (4th century BCE–1279 CE) and [[Vijayanagara Empire]]s (1336–1646 CE) of South India.<ref name="Blurton1993"/> In [[Karnataka]], a [[Zoomorphism|zoomorphic]] image of Varaha is found in a carving on a pillar in [[Aihole]], which is interpreted as the Vijayanagara emblem, as it is seen along with signs of a cross marked Sun, a disc and a conch.<ref name="Geer2008"/>

However, the boar and its relative the pig started being seen as polluting since the 12th century, due to Muslim influence on India. Muslims consider the [[Pigs in culture#Religion|pig]] unclean. This led to a "change of attitude" towards Varaha.<ref name="Blurton1993" /> While Varaha once enjoyed cult following particularly in Central India, his worship has declined significantly today.{{sfn|Lochtefeld|2002|p=119}}

According to historian Dr. Suniti Kumar Chatterjee, [[Boro people]] trace their mythological origins to Varaha.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.iitg.ac.in/rcilts/bodo.html|title=RCILTS, Phase-II|website=iitg.ac.in|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190430200542/http://www.iitg.ac.in/rcilts/bodo.html|archive-date=30 April 2019|access-date=30 April 2019}}</ref>

Some academics believe the Varaha avatara is a single-horned rhino, rather than a boar although it was disproven .<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FvvtCAAAQBAJ&q=varaha+rhino&pg=PA363|title=Ecology and Biogeography in India|last=Mani|first=M. S.|date=2012-12-06|publisher=Springer Science & Business Media|isbn=978-94-010-2331-3|pages=363|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DLGfAAAAMAAJ&q=varaha+rhino|title=Varāha in Indian Art, Culture, and Literature|last=Nagar|first=Shanti Lal|date=1993|publisher=Aryan Books International|isbn=978-81-7305-030-5|pages=143|language=en}}</ref>