How does the dragon fit into Nepalese culture?

M

moblues

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Jan 20, 2007
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With all of the HI blades that feature dragon carvings, I've been interested as to how a dragon fits into the Nepalese culture. Or is it regional, i.e., India-Tibet-Bhutan-Nepal?
 
Most temples have a pair Chinthe {half lion/half dog or dragon.] outside to guard them in both Nepal & Burma.

Then there the Makara which is the mount of some of the Gods, its half dolphin / half crocdile type of creature.

lots of other Hindu gods & thier mounts would probably also appear dragon like to western eyes. Googling Hindu mythology might find some.

I am sure there are many other dragon meanings there, I know nothing about either.

Spiral
 
Thanks, Spiral. Your knowledge on this stuff is most impressive and welcome:thumbup: :)
 
Thanks! What got me really interested in this was the dragon carved Tarwar I purchased plus the occasional HI knife that is dragon carved. I understand the dragon's significance in Chinese/Mandarin culture but was curious as to how it played out in Nepali cultures.

I had forgotten about the Chinthe.
 
I had to study this somewhat when I studied tatooing in Japan..
The lion, tiger, dragon and lion-dog appear throughout asia. In fact, most temples in Japan are identical in many ways to the ancient buildings in Patan, Nepal (Lalitpur) "The City of Arts."
That special wooden architecture is found all over the Eastern world and the animals all have some kind of meaning.
The Shishi (sometimes called a lion, sometimes a lion-dog) seems to be the most common temple guardian. One wil have his mouth open and the other will have his mouth closed. (One says "Au" the other says "Um.")
The dragon sems to have a special meaning and I can't define it very well. It seems to be the animal most closely associated with heaven and the emperors. The golden dragon appears on the Japanese hearse.
(both Chinese and Japanese)
p-mon11.jpg
 
Not to hijack the thread, but Danny, do you have any knowledge of the symbolic meaning of the dragonfly?

--Mike L.
 
In Nepal there would be two strands relating to dragons - one would be the Tibetan (Sino-Tibetan) tradition(s) - more on the Buddhist side. On the Hindu side, there is a dragon tradition dating back to Vedic times (actually, it would appear, before that to the Proto-Indo-European times). For more on the Hindu side - the battles of the god Indra against a dragon, see:
http://www.jnanam.net/indra/
 
Beoram...

nice to see your face/name/nic...er...

nice to see you.:)







Kis
enjoy every sandwich
 
do you have any knowledge of the symbolic meaning of the dragonfly?
Click to expand...

In Japan, the Dragonfly symbolizes speed. The dragonfly is said to be the fastest insect. The dragon fly is almost always seen decorating samurai quivers. (to make the arrows faster)

img1059778465.jpeg

img1059315692.jpeg
 
Thanks Beo!

Thats interesting! Fantastic statue as well. ;)

Cheers Danny, So I can say " faster than dragon fly!" l like that!

spiral
 
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