Vintage design collectible set of ten brass statues from Hindu mythology. Dashavatara refers to the ten primary avatars of Lord Vishnu, the Hindu god of preservation. Vishnu is said to descend in form of different avatars at various points of time to restore cosmic order. The word Dashavatara derives from dasa, meaning 'ten', and avatar (avatara), roughly equivalent to 'incarnation'. The list of included avatars varies across sects and regions. Though no list can be said as the standard one, the most accepted list found in Puranas and other texts draw from the following set of figures, Matsya, Kurma, Varaha, Narasimha, Vamana, Parashurama, Rama, Balarama, Krishna, and Kalki.