Makara is a mythical sea monster known in India, Indonesia and some other countries of Southeast Asia. It is, as it were, composed of several beings. For example, the head is from a crocodile with an elephant trunk, the body is from a dragon, and the tail is from a shark.
But, despite the frightening appearance, the makara most likely belongs to the forces of Light. After all, Varuna himself drives it - the god of the waters of the world, as well as the keeper of justice and a judge. But to the carriers of evil, Makara is merciless.
Rescuing Princess Amala
Once Princess Amala, the beautiful daughter of Raja Madhava, was walking on the seashore, accompanied by maidservants and brave and loyal warrior guards. Everywhere she passed, flowers bloomed, streams murmured, birds sang in bright multi-colored plumage - so nature itself admired her beauty.
And suddenly a blinding lightning flashed, a deafening thunder was heard, everything around went dark, and a terrible Rakshasa appeared before the princess - a six-armed man-eating demon. He had long wanted to take possession of Amala and drag her to his lair in the depths of the Himalayas. With a vicious laughter, the Rakshasa rushed to the princess, fiercely sparkling with fiery eyes and swinging powerful arms with large sharp claws. The warriors tried to defend themselves - but where there! Rakshas blew on them with all his might, a fiery whirlwind burst out of his mouth - and all those accompanying Amala fell dead.
It seemed that the princess had nowhere to wait for salvation. But then an amazing animal with the head of a crocodile, the body of a dragon on four powerful legs and a fish's tail emerged from the sea waters. It was a makara sent by the god Varuna.
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The Rakshasa roared and lunged at the unexpected enemy. A fierce battle ensued. The earth shook, huge waves rose on the sea. For a long time, none of the opponents could win this stubborn battle. But nevertheless Makara contrived and bit off the Rakshasa's head. The princess was saved - to the delight of people and god Varuna
Dragon - "transformer"
Makara is perhaps the most unusual of the dragons. As if the child-god, while creating the world and living beings, amused himself, took the body parts of various animals and assembled them in the most unimaginable combinations. Therefore, there are many types of these beings. Most often they resemble a giant fish with the head of a crocodile.
Moreover, this head may have an elephant's trunk, but with shark teeth located on it; and sometimes, instead of a trunk, it is decorated with long and sharp buffalo horns, sometimes more than two in number. And boar tusks or elephant tusks can also stick out of the mouth. There are makaras with a dolphin or shark head.
Their body is most often covered with fish scales or bony shields, like a crocodile or a dragon. Usually it is equipped with four legs - short, like a crocodile, or long and powerful, as can be seen in images of a dragon. But some makaras have a lion's body with a lush mane and legs with long sharp claws.
The tail is most often similar to sharks or dolphins. And sometimes it blooms richly like a rhizome of a lotus or a peacock's tail. However, it can also be the tentacles of an octopus.
Among the varieties of these sea monsters, the Makar-Givras stand out - creatures with a serpentine body, turning into a human torso with a human head crowned with "curls" of many snakes (like the ancient Greek gorgon Medusa) - a kind of sea centaurs. Two pairs of legs have makara-parapedos, one pair - makary-lindworms. But the most exotic variant of makar is ibex. It has a scaly body with long legs and the head of an antelope or goat.
Somehow the aquatic makara penetrated mountainous Tibet. Here (obviously under the influence of China) he acquired more dragon features and noticeably, in comparison with his Indian "counterpart", added to the ferocity. And his name is different - Chusin. He has a thick lion's mane, the lower jaw of a crocodile with a dragon's mustache, the lower fangs and ears of a boar, the eyes of a monkey, a scaly body, lion paws surrounded by tongues of flame, a fishnet tail like a peacock, antlers and a trunk with many tentacles. In strength and fury, he is like a crocodile.
Such is the dragon-transformer. It could be called a distant relative of the ancient Greek chimera - a mythical monster with a lion's head, a goat's body, and a snake-shaped tail. But if the chimera is the product of the powerful giant Typhon and the half-woman-half-snake Echidna is the embodiment of evil, then the makara serves the light forces.
"Horse" of the gods
Makara is an ancient and sacred animal. In one of the Indian myths, it is told how the sage Agastya drank the ocean, and at the same time the Vindhya mountain was exposed, to which many makaras adhered, and the caves they created were opened, in which untold treasures were kept. It was only later that nagas settled in the caves, taking over from the Makar the mission of guardians of treasures and secret knowledge. That is, the makaras are the most ancient creatures that inhabited the primary world waters long before the birth of the Vedic gods.
The Vedic gods found other uses for the makaram, making them their vahanas - mounts. So, Varuna - the god of the waters of the world, as well as the keeper of justice and judge, the embodiment of world order - is usually depicted as a white man in golden armor, sitting on a macar.
In his right hand he holds a lasso made of a snake, with which he catches all kinds of violators of earthly and divine laws, in order to then transfer sinners to Yama - the god of death. Moving around the world on the mighty macar, Varuna protects people from the forces of darkness, from injustice, illness, death, witchcraft, and he can even bestow a long life on the righteous.
Makara is also the Wakhana of Haiti - the goddess of the sacred river of the Hindus. But Kama - the god of love - put the image of a makara with a dolphin's head on his banner as a symbol of sensual energy. But sometimes he himself is not averse to riding this "horse" with a bow in hand, looking for another victim in order to hit her with an arrow of ardent passion.
Makara Sankranti
In India and the countries of Southeast Asia, where there are many adherents of Hinduism, Makara is associated with the constellation Capricorn. On the winter solstice, when our star enters the sign of Capricorn, Makara Sankranti, the Hindu harvest festival, is celebrated. During this festival, it is customary to take a bath in the Ganges or other sacred rivers and worship the sun god, bringing him the first fruits of the harvest as a gift.
While traveling in Indian villages, I was more than once convinced that their inhabitants are not very willing to let foreigners inside their homes. But if someone succeeds on the day of Makara-sankranti, then, opening the door decorated with mango leaves (as people invite God to their house), the guest will see that the floors have been cleanly swept and women have painted fanciful patterns on them with flour.
In the middle of the pattern, they placed a pile of cow dung and a large yellow flower. "Why dung?" - you ask. And he symbolizes the cow Go, which is fed and taken care of by Gopala (the name of the Lord). Go also denotes living beings, souls, individuals.
And on this day, you will definitely be fed with sweet rice boiled in milk. This is a sattvic food, it stimulates sublime thoughts, gentleness and humility.
Another traditional dish on Makara Sankranti is made with green peas, rice and palm sugar. Peas symbolize the god Vishnu, rice - his consort Sri, or abundance and prosperity, and sugar - the principle of divine love. And of course, you will see the festive procession. The strongest and righteous men in the village roll a large chariot, richly decorated with flags and flower garlands, to the loud accompaniment of trumpets and other musical instruments.
The chariot is accompanied by acrobats, dancers and singers, enhancing the festive fun. Thousands of people crowd around her, fill the streets. But the main thing for them is not noise and din, but the opportunity, with folded palms, to bow down before the sacred image mounted on the chariot. Everything else seems secondary, and for many, even inappropriate.
Also on the day of Makara Sankranti, it is customary to offer colorful offerings to the sun in the form of kites. This is an amazing sight! Thousands of kites soar in the sky that looks like a large bright patchwork quilt.
People consider Makara Sankranti to be one of the main holidays of the year. After all, if you meet him with a pure heart and good thoughts and correctly perform all the rituals, then for the whole year you, your family and home will be provided with the protection of the good dragon Makara.
Victor MEDNIKOV