Chaturmurthi

According to Hindu iconography and mythology, Chaturmurthi refers to a deity form (murti), with four-heads. It is often used as a name for Brahma who is described as such within Puranic literatures.

It is also sometimes used to describe a particular form of Vishnu. This composite aspect of Vishnu has four faces representing a human being, a lion, a boar and a rakshasa. This signifies four manifestations of Vishnu in the forms of Vasudeva, Pradyumna, Sankarshana (Balarama) and Aniruddha. The human face (Vasudeva) is at the centre, flanked on right and left respectively by a lion and a boar (Aniruddha), and on the back the face of a grimacing rakshasa (Pradyumna). Chaturmurti form are often depicted with four arms also.

References

• Dallapiccola, A. Dictionary of Hindu Lore and Legend, Thames & Hudson, 2002. ISBN 978-0-500-51088-9