#naramakara

Two-tailed naramakara, 101 CE–300 CE. Gandhara, modern day Pakistan. Currently at the Art Institute of Chicago.

There is an interesting branch of the two-tailed siren’s family tree to the east: in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India. The motif likely moved east along the Silk Road, as goods and artistic traditions were traded. These images are usually male, and while they share the same pose as the Scythian snake-legged goddess, there are some differences. I’m going to use the term “naramakara” for these images, coined by academic Sonya Rhie Mace. “Makara” refers to having a fish tail, but these figures need their own term, as they have two fish tails, or fish legs.

The Afghani naramakara are distinct because their snake-legs or fish tails are being eaten by crocodiles. This difference is clear when looking at an ivory carving from Bagram to 2-3rd CE, in National Museum of Afghanistan and the "Afghanistan, Rediscovered Treasures” exhibit:

Further, these different images are very likely related, as the Indian images are from the Mathura region of the Kushan Empire, which at that time, included modern-day Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India. In addition to Hellenistic influences, there may have been Scythian influences as well, as there is evidence that Scythian invaders were in the region around 80 BCE.

In the book “Yakṣas: Essays in the Water Cosmology” the author states that these two-tailed images are usually found on railing pillars or medallions. Here's an example of a Mathura naramakara, whose two legs end in animal heads:

Relief from Mathura, 2nd century CE. Archaeological Museum, Mathura.

Here is another an Indian naramakara from Sārnāth, with elephant-like ears, also on a railing pillar, and a drawing of a Mathura image on the left:

Some examples from the British Museum:

Stair-riser with four two-tailed naramakara. 2nd-3rd century CE, Kushanm  Gandhāra School. Found in Jamalgarhi, modern-day Pakistan. British Museum.

And my personal favourite, as she strongly resembles the two-tailed siren:

Two tailed narimakara. Near Peshawar, Pakistan. 1st century CE. From the museum website: This tray features a two-tailed mermaid on the top. It is thought that the empty bottom half of this tray was used to make offerings to mythical beasts to secure safe passage to the afterlife. Tokyo National Museum, TC-599.

Several art historians have suggested connections between these images and the snake-legged Giants in ancient Greek art, and figures of the Scythian goddess, in particular, the mosaic from Vergina.

While I'm very happy with my research on this, I'm still on the lookout for more examples of this image.

Further reading

Silk Road route and foreign influences:

Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, N.Y.), et al. The Art of Gandhara in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Metropolitan Museum of Art ; Yale University Press, 2007.

Overview of Greek influences, showing hippocampi and Tritons from Greece to Gandhara art are likely related:

Kouremenos, Anna, et al., editors. From Pella to Gandhara : Hybridisation and Identity in the Art and Architecture of the Hellenistic East. BAR Publishing, 2011. “Sea Monster Motif,” pages 155-159.

Afghani mermen:

Dupree, Nancy Hatch, et al. The National Museum of Afghanistan: An Illustrated Guide. Afghan Air Authority, 1974.

Term naramakara, and the fact that Scythian invaders were in the same area:

Mace, Sonya Rhie. History of Early Stone Sculpture at Mathura, ca. 150 BCE-100 CE. Brill, 2007.

Bordeaux, Olivier. “Anguiped Figures, Dragon-legged Animals and Sea-monsters, from Hellenism to Indian Art.” Mathurā: The Archaeology of Inter-Religious Encounters in Ancient India workshop, Bochum, 25/26 July, 2019.