Dashavatara refers to the ten primary avatars of Vishnu, the Hindu god of preservation. Vishnu is said to descend in form of an avatar to restore cosmic order. The word Dashavatara derives from daśa, meaning 'ten', and avatar (avatāra), roughly equivalent to 'incarnation'.

Lord Sri Maha Vishnu incarnates on Earth from time to time to eradicate evil forces, to restore the dharma. He has taken nine avatars till now and the tenth Avathar will descend on Earth at the end of the Kali Yuga. These ten incarnations of Lord Vishnu is collectively known as the Dashavatar. Out of his ten Avatars he chose the form of animals in four of them.

The first four avatars of God Vishnu appeared in Satya or Krita Yuga (also known as the Golden Age). The next three appeared in Treta Yuga, the eighth and ninth in Dwapara Yuga and the tenth (Kalki Avatar) will appear at the end of Kali Yuga.

The list of included avatars varies across sects and regions. Though no list can be uncontroversially presented as standard, the ""most accepted list found in Puranas and other texts is Krishna, Buddha.""Most draw from the following set of figures, in this order: Matsya; Kurma; Varaha; Narasimha; Vamana; Parashurama; Rama; Krishna or Balarama; Buddha or Krishna; and Kalki. In traditions that omit Krishna, he often replaces Vishnu as the source of all avatars. Some traditions include a regional deity such as Vithoba or Jagannath