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In the expansive cast of creatures that populate the oral, textual, and visual traditions of Buddhism and Hinduism in India, the Makara is one of the most ubiquitous. While the name means ‘sea monster’, the Makara is nothing like the sea creatures we know of; it is a hybrid between a terrestrial and an aquatic mammal. The composite nature of Makara is reflected in its visual representations, which typically depict it with the frontal body of an animal such as an elephant or deer, and the hind body of a fish, crocodile, or snake.
The Makara finds its earliest mention alongside Varuna, one of the oldest deities of the Vedic pantheon in company with Mitra and Aryaman. While the three deities dominated the cultic fold, Varuna was the lord of justice and truth, ruling the earth and the sky, and regarded as the creator. Later eclipsed by another trifecta of Vedic gods, namely Agni, Indra, and Surya, Varuna was deposed from the rulership of heaven and became the god of oceans. As the god of oceans, he is known to have a Makara as his vahana (vehicle). Following the Vedic association with Varuna, the Makara appears as a vehicle of yet another deity, this time in the Puranic texts discussing the riverine goddess Ganga, where the Makara has the head of a crocodile and the tail of a dolphin. Considered holy, akin to sacred monsters, the Makara was incorporated into temple architecture as a guardian and protector of temples. It is seen as an auspicious symbol that offers protection while also evoking terror and fear.
While it was imbued with potent symbolism, it is worth noting that the Makara’s trumpet-like snout, aquiline body, and curling tail, made it quite pliant for its most prominent use — flanking thresholds to temples, entryways, and on arches and brackets framing shrines. Often, stone and bronze sculptures of deities such as Vishnu, Shiva and various incarnations of Devi are also depicted wearing a fish-shaped earring called Makarakundala.
Many gargoyles with water conveying snouts at Buddhist and Hindu shrines have been identified as Makaras. At Buddhist monuments, they are incorporated in bas-relief in ornamental toranas and medallions, as seen at the stupas of Sanchi and Barhut. In temples of southern and eastern India, the Makara appears alongside the kirtimukha (“face of glory”), a fierce leonine figure at the apex of stele on gateways. Makara in painted manuscripts meanwhile, tracks its influence from the iconography of dragons from Persianate and Chinese painting traditions. In the painted Makara, the long, serpentine stretch of the dragon is significantly shortened in keeping with the representations of Makara seen on sculptures. Its shape and form are also guided by observation of animal life — coalescing the fantastic proportions of the marine dragon with the physiognomy of the Indian marsh crocodile, Gangetic river dolphin, and Indian elephant. In a reversion of this iconographic debt, the name of the Indian marsh crocodile species is popularly known as Magar, a latter-day iteration of Makara in the Hindi language.
A well-travelled motif, the Makara appears across Indonesia, Java, Cambodia, Nepal and Sri Lanka, especially as an architectural element. Over time, its talismanic properties have ensured that it appears on jewellery, dagger hilts, ornamental handles and as part of ritual implements.
Discover Indian Art is a fortnightly column that delves into fascinating stories on art from across the sub-continent, curated by the editors of the MAP Academy. Find them on Instagram as @map_academy