Lord Vishnu has many avatars and as per Puranas, ‘Kurma Avatar’ a tortoise form is the second incarnation of Lord Vishnu. Lord Vishnu took the avatar of a Kurma at the time of Samudra Manthan (Churning of the Sea) to save humankind from the Danavas.

In Samudra Manthan, Mandara Mountain was cut from its base and installed in the sea as the churning rod, and Vasuki, the King of Snakes, became the churning rope. Due to the surging movement of the waves, the base of the mountain couldn’t reach the seabed, hence Lord Vishnu transfigured as the tortoise and went deep inside the ocean to carry the Mandara mountain on his back.

One of the rarest Kurma-Avatar temples is situated here at Bharatvarsh. The Giant size Tortoise idol here weighs 7 tons; is 9’ feet long, 6’ feet wide, 5.5’ feet in height and is hand-carved after our prayers from the natural hard black tortoise-shaped stone found during the excavation work at Bharatvarsh site.