Makara, the mythological hybrid creature in Assamese Vaishnava Art

India is known to be a land of several mythical happenings. It is a land where myth is not only a mere fantastic imagination or a matter of other worldliness; here myth either underlies reality, carries its essence or reality itself is sometimes constructed out of it. The myriad of mythologies described in the numerous scriptures like the Puranas are not just personal fantasies, not a construct of individuals who are striving under the fear of the supernatural and neither are vague explanations given by a group of people who are in a spree to escape the realities of the world.

The mythological concepts, are in fact are ways to explore the more subtle aspects of reality, they are rather attempts to sublimate the various physical and psychic phenomena of the world in which we live. They are in a way, enquiries into what this whole creation mean to us, how we can live in harmony or how to maintain a constant logarithm in the complex graph of life. Also, these mythological constructs are a result of probing deeper into experiencing the unknown organic, ever tensed forces that gave rise to several orders in creation, may it be the orders of living organisms starting from the tiniest one celled bacteria to the immensely massive whale.

The mention of massive hybrid creatures like the Makara in the scriptures hint us at the thinking of the ancient seers where they might have explored the interconnectivity of the various life forms and how they had undergone changes, how they attained various positions in the organic order of the creation and how they were experimented upon and made to hold the equilibrium between the Panchabhutas or the five primal elements- Agni (fire), Ap (water), Vayu (air), Prithvi (earth) and Akash (space/ether or vacuum) which hold every single molecule of life; each of them bearing a nature which is ever transitory and relationship between each of them very prone to some distractive intervention.

Makara has held a very significant place in various forms of Indian art for ages. May it be the twirling intricate lavish forms of the Toranas of the majestic temples of western and central India or the immensely simple, austere yet inviting architectural adornments of the Vaishnavite monasteries of Assam called Sattras, the motif of the Makara with its deeply embedded powerful symbolism has a pronounced presence in the lyrically governed exuberant traditional architectonic forms in whole of the Indian subcontinent.

In the objects of visual culture which proliferated under the patronage of Sankari Neo-Vaishnavism in Assam, Makara appears most profoundly both as a subject of decoration as well as carrying a thought which is beyond the flatness of decoration. It evokes a sense of being within something that is not bounded, taking us beyond worldly parameters. The Makara, depicted as a hybrid form of fish, mammal and reptile in scriptures might also connote to a certain conception of creation where everything was integrated into a homogenous mass where there was no distinction, no articulation, no struggle, but only a state of complete constancy, a total dissolution of negotiation or dialogue; a state of blending and achieving a harmony: the element of Sattva. The spirit of Sattva or becoming a Sattvika or instilling the all encompassing, compassionate being within oneself is one of the pre requisites in understanding the practices of Assamese neo- Vaishnavism (or any other form of Vaisnavism). So, to fulfill this requirement, the principal doorways or the Simha Dwaras of the Naamghars in Sattras may have their arcades decorated with symmetrical wood or stone carved motifs of Makara ( decorating the arcades of the principal doorways of shrines with Makara is also prominent in Gujarat and North western India).

Makara may be thought of as embodying the Sattva principle or the element of homogeneity, broadness and release, a release from every form of randomness and from the grip of divisive powers of material existence. The symmetrical forms of the doorways with the Makara motifs instills in the devotee’s mind a kind of exalted stability and an unknown eagerness, an eagerness not for fulfilling his or her selfish interests, but instead for accumulating a kind of peace which is not one’s own, but universal. This universal peace one will surely find after the or she crosses the doorway and makes way to prostrating before the Guru Asana- the divine throne in the Manikuta or the sanctum sanctorum of the Naamghar.

Apart from embellishing the doorways, the Makara motif is found in every other ritual object used in the services of the Naamghar, say for example, at Agnigarh- an elaborately decorative structure crafted out of wood used in ritualistic dance drama performances in the Sattras known as Ankiya Bhaona. It is designed like a gateway symbolizing the gateway to Vaikuntha or the eternal abode of Lord Vishnu. During the performances, its semicircular arcade is lit by a row of nine lamps symbolizing nine types of devotion called Navadhabhakti which form the basis of all the major schools of Vaishnava thought including Sankari Vaishnavism. Two ornate Makara forms decorate either sides of the arcade.

The Makara forms along with the nine lamps form a symbolic whole, it is a lively, intellectual material rendition of the visualization of a feeling, a transcendental thought devoid of any form or flux by the Sattriya artists and the craftsmen. The Makara forms, in particular on the Agnigarh which is placed on specific points on the performance arena surely epitomizes the spirit of Sattva but also may allude to the feeling of the presence of the cosmic waters of creation, the feeling as if the cosmic sea has descended on to the performance arena to carry away the performers as well as the spectators to an abyss where everything tends to have a release, a release from every truth, every lie and that everything which cause us to ‘be’ and ‘being with’.

Also, in the philosophy of Sankari Vaishnavism, Makara may have moved out from certain connotations where it acts as an embodiment of eroticism and passion and acquired a symbolism that relies only on the virtues of selfless sacrifice, peace and tolerance. Its presence as a motif in various forms of Sattra art lead us to an inference that art patronized by the Sattras is not only aimed at arousing only a religious or spiritual motivation, but also inculcating in people certain values which are not central to any belief system; those which are universal.

Text and photos - Siddhant Medhi

( Siddhant Medhi, is Dr. Bhupen Hazarika Fellow in the Department of Assamese, Tezpur University. The views expressed are the author’s own. He can be reached at [email protected])