Matsya, one of the 10avatars (incarnations) of theHindu godVishnu. In this appearance Vishnu saved the world from a greatflood.Manu, the first man, caught a littlefish that grew to giant size. When the flood approached, Manu saved himself by tying his boat to the horn on the fish’s head. Some early accounts refer to the fish-saviour as Prajapati (whose identity is later merged with that ofBrahma). Later sources identified him as Vishnu.

Matsya may be depicted either in animal form or in acombined human-animal form, with the man as the upper half and the fish as the lower half. Matsya is generally represented with four hands—one holding theconch shell, one holding the discus (chakra), one in the pose of conferring a boon (varada mudra), and one in the protection-affording pose (abhaya mudra). According to the canons of sculpture, the man-half should be shown as wearing all the ornaments usually associated with Vishnu.