Vaikuntha Kamalaja

Vaikuntha-Kamalaja, Nepal, gilt copper and inlaid, 14th century, Guimet Museum.

Vaikuntha-Kamalaja (or Lakshmi-Narayana) is a composite androgynous form of the Hindu god Vishnu and his consort Lakshmi. Vaikuntha-Kamalaja is a rare form, mostly restricted to Nepal and the Kashmir region of India.

Like Ardhanarishvara, Vaikuntha-Kamalaja is depicted as half male and half female, split down the middle. The right half is the male Vishnu, illustrating his traditional attributes. The icon symbolises the oneness or non-duality of male and female principles of the universe. Vaikuntha-Kamalaja is mentioned in few Tantric and iconographical texts.