Nawarupa

Nawarupa (Burmese: နဝရူပ, also spelt nawa rupa; Pali: navarūpa, lit.'nine forms'), also known as byala (Arakanese: ဗျာလ or ဗျာလ္လ), is a chimeric creature found in Burmese and Rakhine (Arakanese) mythology. The beast is made of 9 animals, possessing the trunk of a naga or elephant, the eyes of a deer, the horns of a rhinoceros, the tongue or wings of a parrot, the body of a lion or naya, the tail of a peacock or yak, the ears of an elephant or horse, and the feet of a chinthe or karaweik. In the Konbaung dynasty, the nawarupa decorated one of the ceremonial royal barges.[1]

Bya La statue
A Bya La statue (the Rakhine version of the Nawarupa) at the Sittwe Viewpoint park in Myanmar.

See also

References

  1. "Southeast Asia Library Group Newsletter" (PDF). Southeast Asia Library Group. December 2014.
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