[4] According to explorer Frederick Samuel Dellenbaugh, Vishnu Temple is "without doubt the most stupendous mass of nature's carving in the known world.

This toponym was applied in 1880 by Clarence Dutton who thought this mountain resembled an oriental pagoda, when he began the tradition of naming geographical features in the Grand Canyon after mythological deities.

[8] The summit of Vishnu Temple is composed of cream-colored, cliff-forming, Permian Coconino Sandstone with a Kaibab Limestone cupola caprock.

[9] The sandstone, which is the third-youngest of the strata in the Grand Canyon, was deposited 265 million years ago as sand dunes.

Below the Coconino Sandstone is slope-forming, Permian Hermit Formation, which in turn overlays the Pennsylvanian-Permian Supai Group.