Varaha, (Sanskrit: “Boar”) third of the 10 incarnations (avatars) of the Hindu god Vishnu. When a demon named Hiranyaksha dragged the earth to the bottom of the sea, Vishnu took the form of a boar in order to rescue it. They fought for a thousand years. Then Varaha slew the demon and raised the earth out of the water with his tusks. The myth reflects an earlier creation legend of Prajapati (Brahma), who assumed the shape of a boar in order to lift the earth up out of the primeval waters.
