What is Avatar as per hinduism and how many Avatars are there of Lord Vishnu?

Answer 1

Vishnu is said to descend in form of an avatar to restore cosmic order and have ten following avataram -
1) Matsya - the fish, from the Satya Yuga
2) Kurma - the tortoise, from the Satya Yuga
3) Varaha - the boar, from the Satya Yuga
4) Narasimha - Half man and half lion, from the Satya Yuga
5) Vamana - the dwarf, from the Treta Yuga.
6) Parashurama - warrior with the axe, from the Treta Yuga.
7) Rama - Price of Ayodhya, from the Treta Yuga.
8) Krishna - Prince of Mathura/Dwarka, from the Dwapar Yuga.
9) Gautama Buddha - Founder of Buddhism, from current Yuga.
10) Kalki - will be the final incarnation of Vishnu, and yet to incarnate.

Comments

I would like to add :
1.We all know that the first forms of life were from Water/sea as we can see the first Avatar of Lord Vishnu was FISH (origin : Water)
2. Them came animals who could partly live in sea as well as land... 2nd Avatar of Lord Vishnu Kurma (Tortoise)
3. Them came animals who could live only on land... Vishnu Avatar : Varah (The Boar )
4. Then special species were formed which were Carnivorous.... Lord Vishnu Avatar Narsimha.
5. Later Came Life forms similar to humans with short height.... Vaaman.
6. Slowly, Humans were formed and they used  basic weapons like Spear and AXE ( Parashuram)
7. Then RAMA at a well civilised Community.
8. Krishna
9. Gautam Buddha ( Prophase of Kaliyug )
10. Kalki ( Kalki will be born at the last phase of Kaliyug, as we can see increasing crime and more risk of Atomic Bombs... After a few a centuries Kalki will be born !

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Wonder explanation +1