The Hindu deity Vishnu with the goddesses Lakshmi and Sarasvati

Vishnu is one of the most important Hindu deities. He is associated with the maintenance of rightful order in the world. When negative forces threaten this order, he descends to earth in one form or another to overcome the negative force. The forms he takes include fantastic creatures, such as a man-lion, as well as human forms, such as the hero deities Rama and Krishna. Vishnu is shown with four arms symbolizing his superhuman power. He holds implements usually associated with him: a club, war discus, and a conch shell.
On either side of Vishnu are much smaller representations of his wives, and beyond them are even smaller personifications of his conch shell and war discus with the respective objects in their headdresses. Vishnu's mount, the bird-man Garuda, kneels amid the foliage on the right side of the lowest decorated part of the sculpture. At the upper right and left, celestial beings fly in to offer garlands.
This image was made in the Bangladesh region once ruled by the Pala and Sena dynasties from the eighth through the thirteenth centuries. Most sculptures of this region are of fine-grained, dark-gray or black stone that can be carved with a multitude of small, sharp details.