Garuda is man bird, the mount of Vishnu. Garuda has a human body but has wings like a bird. Garuda´s images are also associated with snakes. He often found kneeling before Vishnu Shrines. He is the vehicles for Amogasiddhi. He is almost always represented as human, except for large wings which fold out from his shoulders. Garuda is a lesser Hindu divinity usually the mount of Vishnu. Garuda is depicted as having a golden body, white face, red wings, and an eagle's beak, but with a man's body. He wears a crown on his head. He is ancient and has size enough to block out the sun. His stature in Hindu religion can be gauged by the fact that an independent Upanishad, the Garudopanidad, and a Purana, is devoted to him. Various names have been attributed to Garuda - Chirada, Gaganeshvara, Kamayusha, Kashyapi, Khageshvara, Nagantaka, Sitanana, Sudhahara, Suparna, Tarkshya, Vainateya, Vishnuratha and others. The Vedas provide the earliest reference of Garuda, though by the name of yena, where this mighty bird is said to have brought nectar to earth from heaven. The Puranas, which came into existence much later, mention Garuda as doing the same thing, which indicates that yena (Sanskrit for Eagle) and Garuda are the same. One of the faces of Pancamukha Hanuman is Mahavira Garuda. This face points towards the west. Worship of Garuda is believed to remove the effects of poisons from one's body.
