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50 free Vishnu trivia questions with answers — literature quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
Vishnu is the Preserver of the Hindu Trimurti and the supreme god of Vaishnavism, and this quiz covers him from his handful of Rigvedic hymns to the largest religious monument on Earth. It opens with the iconography: the blue skin, the four arms and what each holds, the Kaustubha gem, the serpent Shesha he sleeps on in the Ocean of Milk, his mount Garuda, his consort Lakshmi and his abode Vaikuntha. The heart of the quiz is the Dashavatara. Every one of the ten avatars gets its due: Matsya and the flood, Kurma beneath Mount Mandara, Varaha lifting the earth on his tusks, Narasimha and the loophole in Hiranyakashipu's boon, Vamana's three steps, Parashurama and his axe, Rama, Krishna, the disputed ninth seat shared by the Buddha and Balarama, and Kalki still to come on a white horse. It finishes with the places and practices built around him: the thousand names, Ekadashi fasting, Jagannath's chariots, the seven hills of Tirupati, the vaults of Padmanabhaswamy and Angkor Wat. Easy questions suit anyone who has seen a Vishnu image; the expert tier is for students of Hindu texts. Every answer was checked against Wikipedia's articles on Vishnu, his avatars, attributes and temples, and the supporting sentence is attached to each question.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Within the Hindu Trimurti, Vishnu is known by which title?
The Preserver
Brahma creates and Shiva destroys; Vishnu presides over sattva, the quality of goodness and maintenance.
Q 02Vishnu is the Supreme Being of which major Hindu tradition?
Vaishnavism
In that tradition he is the supreme Lord who creates, protects and transforms the universe, not merely one of three.
Q 03Vishnu's skin is traditionally shown in which colour?
Dark blue
In Sri Lanka he is called Upulvan, meaning blue-lotus coloured, and Buddhists there venerate him as the island's guardian.
Q 04What is the name of the conch shell Vishnu holds?
Panchajanya
It is named after a demon who lived in the sea; in tradition its blast opened and closed the Kurukshetra war.
Q 05The Sudarshana Chakra held by Vishnu is what kind of weapon?
A spinning discus
Legend says the divine architect Vishvakarma made it from the trimmed-off splendour of the Sun, along with Shiva's trident.
Q 06Kaumodaki, another of Vishnu's four attributes, is what?
A mace
In some sculptures it is personified as a woman, Gadadevi, on whose head Vishnu rests a hand.
Q 07Which flower does Vishnu hold in his fourth hand?
Lotus
It stands for purity and transcendence; the mace symbolises authority and the power of knowledge.
Q 08The gem worn in a necklace by Vishnu is called what?
Kaustubha
He also wears Vaijayanti, a garland of forest flowers.
Q 09Vishnu is traditionally shown reclining on the coils of which serpent?
Shesha
The serpent represents time and floats on the ocean of milk while Vishnu dreams the universe into being.
Q 10Vishnu's serpent is believed to have incarnated on Earth as Lakshmana and as which brother of Krishna?
Balarama
The plough-wielding elder brother is himself counted as the eighth avatar of Vishnu in some lists.
Q 11What is the name of Vishnu's mount, the king of birds?
Garuda
When not carrying Vishnu he holds a jar of amrita, and he appears on the coats of arms of both Indonesia and Thailand.
Q 12Vishnu's bird mount appears in the state insignia of India, Thailand and which other country?
Indonesia
The Indian Army also uses him on its Guards Brigade regimental insignia.
Q 13Who is Vishnu's consort, the goddess of wealth and fortune?
Lakshmi
When he came to earth as Rama and Krishna, she came too, as Sita and as Radha or Rukmini.
Q 14In one popular image type, Vishnu's consort is shown flanked by two of which animal?
Q 21In later versions of the legend, Matsya slays which demon for stealing the Vedas?
Hayagriva
That earned the fish avatar the title of saviour of the scriptures.
Q 22As Kurma the tortoise, Vishnu bore the weight of which mountain during the churning of the ocean?
Mandara
The devas and asuras were using it as a churning shaft to win amrita, the nectar of immortality, when it began to sink.
Q 23How did Varaha, the boar avatar, carry the earth out of the cosmic ocean?
Between his tusks
The battle is said to have lasted a thousand years, and the earth goddess Bhumi is often shown perched on his tusk.
Elephants
They stand for fertility and royal authority; she herself sits or stands on a lotus.
Q 15What is the name of Vishnu's heavenly abode?
Vaikuntha
It is guarded by the twin gatekeepers Jaya and Vijaya, and lies above the fourteen worlds.
Q 16The two gatekeepers of Vishnu's heavenly abode are named what?
Jaya and Vijaya
Vishnu's army stationed there is led by Vishvaksena.
Q 17How many of the Rigveda's 1,028 hymns are dedicated to Vishnu?
5
He was a minor solar deity in Vedic times and only rose to prominence in the following centuries.
Q 18The Vishnu Sahasranama, recited in the Mahabharata's Anushasana Parva, lists how many names of Vishnu?
1,000
The Padma Purana adds that chanting one name of Rama earns the same benefit as all of them.
Q 19The Dashavatara are Vishnu's ten primary what?
Incarnations
The word combines dasha, ten, with avatara, incarnation; the lists vary by region over whether the Buddha or Balarama gets a seat.
Q 20Matsya, usually counted as the first avatar, took what form to rescue Manu from the great flood?
A fish
The tiny creature Manu found in his palm kept growing until it revealed itself and warned him to build a boat.
Q 24Narasimha, the man-lion avatar, killed which demon king to protect that king's own devout son?
Hiranyakashipu
The victim was the elder brother of the demon Varaha had slain, and had been made almost invulnerable by a boon from Brahma.
Q 25To get around the demon's boon, Narasimha killed him at twilight, on his lap, using his claws, and where?
On a palace threshold
The boon barred death by man or beast, indoors or out, by day or night, on earth or in the sky, and by any weapon, so every condition had to be dodged at once.
Q 26The dwarf avatar Vamana asked the king Bali for how much land?
Three paces
The dwarf then grew into the giant Trivikrama and covered the three worlds in his strides.
Q 27The king humbled by Vamana was the grandson of which famous devotee of Vishnu?
Prahlada
Bali had won heaven from Indra through devotion and penance, which is why the gods begged Vishnu to intervene.
Q 28The sixth avatar, Parashurama, is named for the weapon he carries. What is it?
An axe
He won it as a boon after penance to Shiva and used it to wipe out the kshatriya kings twenty-one times over.
Q 29According to legend, Parashurama created the coast of Kerala and Karnataka by doing what?
Throwing his axe into the sea
The sea gave up the land where the weapon fell; he is also counted among the Chiranjivi, the immortals.
Q 30In the Mahabharata, Parashurama was the guru of Drona, Karna and which grand old warrior?
Bhishma
He is prophesied to return at the end of the Kali Yuga to be the teacher of Kalki, the tenth avatar.