Goddess of the Week: Ganga Devi Vahana : THE MAKARA

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The Makara provides a pedestal for the image of Ganga Devi. The

Makara is usually regarded as a Soma animal : an emblem of the

waters, the plants , the entire vegetal substratum of life, and in

this connection it provided the vehicle for the Ganga Devi as the

River Goddess. Yet its acknowledged prototype is the crocodile, an

animal that have been an object of fear and a symbol of the unknown

sea since the beginning of Indian Civilization.

 

As the symbol of the unkown, the Makara provide for Varuna too, the

Lord of Waters and guardians of the western quarter, the region of

Yama, darkness and death. We find certain equivalencies between The

God and his vehicle : Varuna as Lord of the Waters and darkness, the

Makara as creature of the sea and the unkown.

 

In the Hindu zodiac, the Makara signifies Capricon, Door of the Gods.

In art the Makara often appears with a small human figure ( gana) at

its mouth signifying the abiding tendency towards involution. This

motif is not uniquely Indian. In diverse cultures, the crocodile or

dragon is often depicted about to consume people, especially

children. The child/ human figure represent development and growth,

the Makara are those forces inhibiting. Mythically the various fates

that may befall the child signify the powerlessness and helplessness

of the life-urge; more especially the threat to ones inmost self from

dragons.

 

This life threatening quality has characterized the dragon from the

time of the Rig Veda, where Indra slays Vrittra and sets the river

free. In the Vedas, the dragon ( vritra ) dwells exclusively in the

atmosphere and on the mountain top. As the Vedic settlers enter the

Ganges Valley, the sky dragon graduall fades, and in one ritual, a

priest offers " to the offspring of the waters a fish; the

crocodile,

the dolphin… are of the ocean".

 

The Makara retains Vritra's habit of holding back the waters, an

act

of restraining life in its increase. This value is indicated by the

makara's threat to the child. Both the Makara and the small

figure or

gana, emerging from its mouth occur frequently as a pedestral vahana

of the Ganga Devi. Traditionally the Makara has been thought to

embody the fructifying powers of the river. This seems likely when

the animal in its vegetal form is found without the child. The

appearance of the gana may alter that meanin radically. Conjointly

with the Makara, the gana'e life affirming role may be seen to

emphasize the dual nature of the river goddess herseld. For while

Ganga Devi is portrayed in benevolent terms throughout, the river has

often caused great hardship, destroying countless settlement large

and small along its banks.

 

As a creature of the waters, the Makara is also an affirmative

symbol, producing life in its endless convolutions, as witnessed by

its great floral tail and vines growing from its mouth. Though this

value is primary in its role as Ganga Devi's Vahana, the darker

meanings remain. The ambivalence is inescapable, since the Indian

tradition, the waters create and dissolve all of life. This dual

meaning is reflected in the Mahabharata story of a crocodile that is

dragged from the water and transformed into a beautiful girl decked

with ornaments. In modern Gujarati, the crocodile God Mogra (

Makara ) Dev is being worshipped.

 

 

 

Om ParaShaktiye Namaha