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The iconography of Parashurama is simple and unvaried. According to the Visnudharmottara he should have a jata on his only emblem is the axe The Agni Purana prescribes four hands to the image of Parasurama holding the bow, the arrow, the axe and the sword.

409 The Vaikhansagama describes two varieties of image of the Avatara. One is two handed and the other is four handed. The two handed image should have the axe in the right hand and the left hand should be in the suci-mudra. He should wear jatamukuta, yajnopavita and other ornaments. If the image is four handed, it should hold the visual attributes of Visnu. An image has been discovered in Timba, a village near Amreli in Gujarat, belonging to the Gupta period. It is a mutilated piece and hence its exact identifecation is difficult but an axe in the right hand of the figure indicates that it may be the representation of Parasurama. If the identification is correct, the image is the earliest document to testify to the privalence of Parashurama worship in Gujarat. On the left outside wall of the Parasurama temple at Khajuraho are two images possibily of Parashurama, both of them holding a fruit, the conch, the lotus and the battle-axe. The attributes of these images are quite different from the attributes suggested by the Sanskrit texts cited above. A beautiful image of Parashurama has been reproduced by Bhattasali, N.K. The god holds in his two hands the battle-axe and the disc, the lower right hand is in varada-mudra and the lower. left hands the conch. Below on the pedestal is a small figure of Garuda with folded hands. This image, standing in the tribhanga pose, is a fine specimen of the 11 th century art of eastern India.

410 A late mediaeval image of four-handed Parasurama is found from Chamba. He holds the mace and the conch in the lower hands and the upper ones hold the battle-axe and the bow. There is a very peculiar representation of Parasurama at Basohli, on the opposite wall of the Basoli of Dhan, three miles. away from Thara-Kaswal on the way to Kuhn. The second panel on the wall beginning from the upper end depicts a fight between two persons, one of whom is multi-armed and the other carries a battle-axe his right hand. With the left hand he has caught the hair of his opponent. Only five of the multiple hands of the other figure are visible carrying the mace, the sword, the kukri, the dagger, etc. This obviously depicts the fight between Parashurama and Kartivirya Arjuna. The image belongs to the late mediaeval period. The images of Parasurama are very few in number. All those taht have come to light are also datable to the mediaeval period. The utter absence of Parashurama images, excepting these stray ones, makes it obvious that this Avatara, exerted only a limited influence on the Vaisnava devotees. This being a minor avatara, temples were not usually dedicated to him. There are a couple of temples of Parasurama in Gujarat probably owing to his traditional association with the river Narmada where Jamadagni's hermitage was supposed to have been situated.