Miniature shrine with the Hindu deity Vishnu sleeping on the cosmic ocean

The universe has been destroyed. In the interval before it is recreated, nothing is left but limitless ocean. On this ocean floats Vishnu, lying on a serpent, asleep. The universe now persists, like a dream, within the sleeping god. When the time is right, he will put forth from his navel the god Brahma, who
will reconstruct the universe, and the cycle will begin again.

The story of Vishnu’s profound dream is a major narrative in Hinduism, presenting Vishnu as the deity preserving the cosmos from eon to eon. This particular form of Vishnu on the cosmic ocean is the central image of one of the most important Hindu temples in southern India, the Shri Ranganatha Temple at Shrirangam. This miniature shrine is an abbreviated representation of that vast temple. Its general form recalls the temple’s towers, and the dome shape in its upper part recalls the dome-shaped superstructure of the temple’s central building. In front of the dome-shaped element in both the miniature and the real building is an arched panel with a standing half-figure of Vishnu in a special form as the ultimate supreme deity. Above the reclining Vishnu are the mythical serpent’s multiple heads. Below is another standing Vishnu flanked by his consorts, a pair of door guardians, and other figures.