The Story:

The Great Boar.
Due to its sheer size, the Varaha avatar is said to be powerful enough to lift the world. The iconography depicts the form of a human with a boar head. In the Puranas, the Varaha is also described as 'Chaturbahu' (four-armed), 'Chaturmukh' (four-headed) and 'Chaturnetra' (four-eyed). Symbolising force, the avatar stands for the restoration of Dharm.

At VR Chennai

According to the Bhagavata Purana, four sages, who were the sons of Lord Brahma once came to visit Lord Vishnu at Vaikuntha, the Lord's abode. However, due to the power of their penance, the sages looked like children, and the gatekeepers, Jaya and Vijaya did not allow them entry. Enraged, the sages placed a curse on both the gatekeepers – that they would lose their divinity and live on earth as humans forever. They sought Lord Vishnu's help in lifting the curse, who offered two options – either live three lifetimes as Vishnu's enemy or live seven lifetimes as his devotee – before re-attaining their heavenly status. Unable to bear the thought of staying away for seven lifetimes, Jaya and Vijaya chose the former option. In their first birth, they were born as the demon brothers Hiranyakashipu and Hiranyaksha.

Hiranyaksha, the younger brother, undergoes great penance to get a boon from Lord Brahma whereby he could not be killed by any human or one of many animals on Earth. He starts looting the world, and wreaking havoc. He abducts the Goddess of Earth (Bhudevi) and hides with her in the depths of the ocean. To restore balance and save all creation Lord Vishnu takes the form of a boar (Varaha), a creature who was not among the forms of animals Hiranyaksha was immune to. Varaha fights the demon for a thousand years, before finally emerging victorious. The boar then carries Bhudevi to safety on its tusks.

At VR Chennai:

The Varaha avatar has been represented in the form of an ornate water fountain with a boar head as a water spout. It can be found in the Periya Theru, located along the pathway that connects Ulòka Gopuram the Kannadi Gopuram.