THE SPHINX IN ANCIENT BURMA AND MODERN MYANMAR
In ancient Burma the sphinx was called manuthiha, manuthita, manusiha, narasiha, narathita, etc.
These names are all derived from the Sanskrit terms manu-simha or nara-simha; (hu)man-lion.
It was also sometimes called rakkhasimha, which is related to Sanskrit rakshasa-simha, or demon-lion.
Within the Hindu tradition the word narasimha is primarily used as the name of the fourth
incarnation of Lord Vishnu,
but here we find a divinity having the head of a lion and the body of a human being. I have not found any relationship
between Vishnu-Narasimha and the semi-divine purushamriga who is counted among Lord Shiva's pramatha-ganas.
In India I have not come across the term narasimha as used to denote the sphinx,
although in Orissa
the word nara-virala or human-cat is used to denote the Indian sphinx.
Only by exception in Sri Lanka the sphinx is sometimes called nara-simha.
These sphinxes are typical for East Asian art, for instance in their crowns which are shaped as tapering
Buddhist stupas, or the ornamental ear-flaps. On the other hand they also show
stylistically affiliation with
both the Hellenistic as well as South Indian sphinx
depictions. On the one hand they sit in the typical cat-like crouching position,
only found very rarely in sphinx depictions elsewhere, but typical for the earliest sphinx
depictions from South India. Peculiar for these Burmese sphinxes is that their hind-quarters
are forked, as they cover the corner of the stupa from both sides.
The crowns are said to be formed of neem leaves.
The neem tree is a sacred tree with many medicinal properties.
Some also have the arched and upturned eyebrows. But typically they also have feathered
wings that are shown as emanating from or attached to their front limbs.
This is also found in the earliest depictions of sphinxes from
Buddhist, Jain and Hindu
monuments from northern India.
The following legend is told about the origin of this manuthiha. When two Buddhist monks came to ancient Burma and brought the teaching of the Buddha with them
they first arrived at the royal city which was plagued by attacks from sea-monsters. Whenever a baby was born to the
royal family these monsters came and snatched the newborn baby away. A baby was born to the queen just as the
monks arrived, and ogresses rose from the sea to abduct her baby. The monks used their spiritual powers to
create a monster with a human head and upper-body and the forked haunches of a lion being twice the size of
the ogresses which stopped them from carying off the royal baby. It is said that from that day on pictures of
this monster were drawn on palm leaves and worn as amulets for protection from danger.
This legend is said to be over two thousand years old.
