Vishnu, The Preserver and his Avatars

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Vishnu_Kumartuli_Park_Sarbojanin_Arnab_Dutta_2010.JPG

Vishnu is one of the 3 main gods of Hinduism.  He is considered the preserver and maintainer where as Shiva is considered the destroyer and transformer and Brahma is the creator.  Vishnu has come in the form of nine out of ten different avatars at different times.  The most famous are Rama and Krishna.  His wife is the goddess Lakshmi.  Vishnu has already come in his form as nine of the ten avatars and he is yet to come in his tenth avatar form

Depending on which Purana or vedic writing you read, the gods Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva are all aspects of one another.  The blue skin represents his all pervasive presence in space as well as the water.

According to wikipedia, here are his ten avatars:

There are ten avatars (dashavatara) of Vishnu commonly considered as the most prominent:

1. Matsya, the fish that kills Damanaka to save the vedas and saves mankind.
2. Kurma, the turtle that helps the Devas and Asuras churn the ocean for the nectar of immortality.
3. Varaha, the boar that rescues the Earth and kills Hiranyaksha.
4. Narasimha, the one (half-Lion half- human) who defeats the demon Hiranyakashapu (Nara = man, simha = lion).
5. Vamana. the dwarf that grows into a giant to save the world from King Bali.
6. Parashurama, A Sage, Rama with the axe, who appeared in the Treta Yuga.
7. Rama, Sri Ramachandra, the prince and king of Ayodhya and killed Demon King Raavana.
8. Krishna (meaning 'dark coloured' or 'all attractive' or the Existence of Bliss,), appeared in the Dwapara Yuga along with his brother
9. Buddha, ((North India) Buddha, the ascetic prince is listed as an avatar of Vishnu in many Hindu scriptures including Bhagavata Purana, Bhavishya Purana, Narasimha Purana etc.[8][9] With the departure of Krishna, Kali Yuga sets in, in this age, the true devotion to Vedas was replaced by empty rituals. To enlighten the world in such times, Vishnu descended the earth as Buddha, the enlightened one.)
10. Kalki ("Eternity", or "timeless", destroyer of time or "The Destroyer of foulness"), who is expected to appear at the end of Kali Yuga, the time period in which we currently exist.

Other writings indicate additional avatars for Vishnu.  Vishnu will originate from different forms of the goddess Devi Ma.  Here is an interesting video about Vishnu that I found on youtube:

By Rita Jean Moran (www.thelibrarykids.com)

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vishnu

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Vishnu_Kumartuli_Park_Sarbojanin_Arnab_Dutta_2010.JPG