This is a well-crafted Lakshminarayanaya Vigraha and it is in pristine condition.

Four-armed and holding his hallmark attributes Chakra (Discuss) and Shankah (Conch shell) in his rear hands, Vishnu is sitting in Lalithasana. Lakshmi sitting on his left thigh. Incidentally, Narayana is another name for Vishnu, one of the thousand plus names for him.

Vishnu’s lower right hand is in Abhaya (protection) mudra and his left hand is holding (well almost) Lakshmi by her hip.

Lakshmi is holding a lotus in her left hand and her right hand is holding Vishnu by his waist. Lakshmi’s figure is relatively larger than what you normally tend to see.

Garuda, Vishnu’s vahana, is present on the pedestal. An unusual feature.

What caught my attention is Vishnu’s crown. The diadem and the pattern near the top are very typical of Hoysala schist sculptures. This Vigraha is, very likely, inspired by the Hoysala style. A Umamaheshwara on this blog site has a similar crown.

One of the intriguing aspects is the back of the crown is plain and does not reflect the exuberant design of the front. Not common. But then the back of the Shankah and Chakra is plain as well. Some short cuts.

The Vigraha is about 10.5 in height and it is from Karnataka or Tamil Nadu. This may be dated to the nineteenth century.

Note: The auction tag reads ‘Exceeded estimate at Auction BMS C 1974, Dec 28. Rick’s private collection’. I bought it through an Australian Auction house just this year, 2022.