Kurmavatara (Kurma means a turtle) means incarnation of Lord Vishnu as a turtle. It was the second incarnation of Lord Vishnu. In this incarnation, Lord Vishnu helped gods and demons to churn the milky sea and take out the nectar. Lord Vishnu further made sure that demons did not get the nectar.

The Story of Kurmavatara:

One day, Indra, the king of Gods, was going on his elephant when he came across the sage Durvasa. Sage Durvasa gave Indra a divine garland as a gift, which was given to him by Lord Shiva. Indra put this garland on the trunk of an elephant. The elephant threw the garland on the ground and trampled it. Sage Durvasa was a quick-tempered sage. He got angry with Indra for showing such disrespect to his gift and he cursed him that he would be deprived of all his wealth.

Gods then went to Lord Vishnu for advice. Vishnu told them to do Samudra Manthan (churning of the sea) to take out nectar but he also told them that this was impossible without the help of demons. So, he advised them to behave diplomatically with demons and get the nectar out of the ocean. Indra then met Bali and they agreed on doing Samudra Manthan and also agreed to distribute nectar amongst gods and demons equally.

For doing Samudra Manthan, they needed a rod and a rope and a platform on which the rod would move. Hence, Mountain Mandar was selected as a rod, Vasuki (big serpent) as a rope and Lord Vishnu transformed himself into a big tortoise (Kurmavatara), the back of whom, would serve as a platform for Mountain Mandar. To do Samudra Manthan, gods had to pull Vasuki from one side and demons from the others. Demons refused to grab the tail of Vasuki as they considered it insulting. So, gods started pulling Vasuki from the tail side and demons from the head side. As the churning began, big fire flares started coming out of Vasuki’s mouth and demons repented on their decision.

The first thing, which came out of this was Halaahal (the lethal poison). The poison was so lethal that it could kill all living beings. Because of this, the gods and demons started praying to Lord Shiva. Lord Shiva collected all poison and drank it but did not allow it to enter his stomach. He accumulated it in his throat. So, his throat turned blue. Therefore, Lord Shiva is also known as Nilkanth.

After this 14 Ratnas came out of the ocean:

1. Kamadhenu – a cow that provides the desired things.

2. Uchchaihsravas – the divine seven-headed horse.

3. Airavat – a four-tusked elephant.

4. Kaustumb mani – the costliest gem.

5. Kalpavriksha – a tree fulfilling one’s wishes.

6. Apsaras – nymphs like Rambha, Menaka, Punjisthala.

7. Laxmi – the goddess of wealth who accepted Lord Vishnu as her husband.

8. Vaaruni – a form of wine.

9. Chandra (Moon).

10. Parijat – a divine tree.

11. Shankha, the conch.

12. Dhanwantari, the physician of Gods.

13. Amrit (the nectar drinking which one becomes immortal) in a golden pot.

14. Sharanga – a powerful bow.

When Amrit came out, gods and demons started fighting over it. Demons snatched the pot of nectar. Lord Vishnu transformed himself into a beautiful woman, Mohini, who mesmerized demons and started giving nectar to gods. A demon, Rahu, took the form of a god and drank some nectar but before the nectar could reach his stomach, Vishnu cut his head with Sudarshan Chakra.

Thus god drank the nectar and became immortal. On the other hand, demons could not drink the nectar and were defeated by the gods.

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Reference: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurma