In Hinduism, Balarama (बलराम) (phonetically BalarÄma), also known as Baladeva, Balabhadra and Halayudha, is the elder brother of the divine being, Krishna. Within the Vaishnava tradition, and a number of South Indian, Hindu traditions Balarama is worshipped as the ninth avatar of Vishnu, and he is also listed as such in the Puranas http://srimadbhagavatam.com/1/3/23/en1 Bhag-P 1.3.23 "In the nineteenth and twentieth incarnations, the Lord advented Himself as Lord Balarama and Lord Krishna" . Within both the Vaishnava traditions and Hinduism generally he is acknowledged as being a manifestation of Shesha, the divine serpent on whom Vishnu rests.