Vishnu is one of the principal deities of hinduism and the supreme being or absolute truth in its vaishnavism tradition. Vishnu is the preserver in the hindu triad trimurti that includes brahma and shiva. In vaishnavism vishnu is identical to the formless metaphysical concept called brahman the supreme the svayam bhagavan who takes various avatars as the preserver protector whenever the world is threatened with evil chaos and destructive forces. His avatars most notably include rama in the ramayana and krishna in the mahabharata. He is also known as narayana trilokinath ishtadeva jagannath vasudeva vithoba and hari. He is one of the five equivalent deities worshipped in panchayatana puja of the smarta tradition of hinduism.6 in hindu iconography vishnu is usually depicted as having a pale or dark blue comple ion and having four arms. He holds a padma lotus flower in his lower left hand kaumodaki gada mace in his lower right hand panchajanya shankha conch in his upper left hand and the sudarshana chakra discus in his upper right hand. A traditional depiction is vishnu reclining on the coils of the serpent shesha accompanied by his consort lakshmi as he dreams the universe into reality.