Winsu and Garuda By Rolland BundiI can not find much on this piece but I though I would share some of the myth behind the piece. In Hinduism the Garuda is a lower god and the mount of the god Vishnu. He is usually shown having the body of a strong man, a white face with an eagles beak, and red wings. he is also said to be huge big enough to block out the sun.
I find the piece very interesting and very Indian. He has Indian style clothes and a very ornate style. The figures are very similar to the other sculptures we looked at earlier with the shape of the figures but with a more modern flare to it.
I would like to hear more about the myth itself. What is his story?
ReplyDeleteI did a bit of research in the story I believe this is the story
DeleteThe establishment of the statue is God Wisnu the Protector God of Hinduism riding on mythical bird Garuda, inspired from Adi Parwa's tale on the episode of Garuda with his loyal and sacrifice to save his mother from the shackles of slavery life, by devoted his life to serve the God Wisnu by being his means of transportation.
The tale tells about a whirlpool in a sea of milk created by gods and giants by using Mount Mandara. The whirlpool caused a horse called Oncesrawa to appear, and then the Tirtha Amertha (the water of life). Anybody who drinks the Tirtha Amertha, he will never die because he will never experience being old. He will look young at all times. The gods and giants then fought to get the water, but finally the gods prevailed and took the water to keep in heaven.
Based on the tale, the Garuda eagle, the son of Goddess Winata, fought hard to get the Tirtha Amertha to free his mother from 1,000 dragons, the sons of Goddess Kadru, which had made his mother a slave. The Garuda eagle, accompanied by his parents' prayers, fought his best to beat the gods in the heaven to get the Tirtha Amertha. After a long fight, finally they made an agreement that the gods would hand over the Tirtha Amertha on one condition, i.e. that the Garuda eagle would serve God Wisnu. Garuda was very pleased with the offer because he knew that he would be able to free his mother.
Garuda eagle then took the Tirtha Amertha to the 1,000 dragons, which wanted to have eternal lives. His mother safe and free. Then Garuda told the dragons," You are all only allowed to drink the Tirtha Amertha after having a bath." The dragons soon went to bathe in the nearby river and left the water unattended. None of them realized that the water should never be left unattended. Finally, God Indra came and took the Tirtha Amertha and returned it to the heaven.
Garuda is a large bird creature thing that can be seen in both Hindu and Buddhist mythology. It's enemy are snakes and only feeds on them; some people think this deity is referred to the short toed eagle that resides in India. This deity is used as a charm to protect the wearer from snakes and being bitten. I wonder why this deity has a master seeing how it's a god and all
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