The Crocodile

Thursday, June 6

When I saw this, I have to admit that the last possibility running through my head was that this is a crocodile.  I think Molly described our impressions best, as a “lion dragon tiger elephant thing.”  As it turns out, the monks completely agree that it looks nothing like a crocodile, but it does have a very interesting meaning and story behind it.  The following is my understanding from a conversation with one monk about the statue.

In the landlocked Tibet, he tells me, the crocodile and all aquatic life are symbols of naga, or wealth.  This is a desirable sort of wealth as the monk explained to me, rather than a negative worldly distraction from the studies and practices of a monk.

This representation of a crocodile originally came from a Chinese design which made its way into Tibet.  In families of artists, sons copied the designs of their fathers, iteration after iteration – none of them ever seeing a crocodile, of course.  After hundreds of years and changes with each iteration, the monk tells me the result is “not even a little bit like a crocodile.”  I had to agree and we had a good laugh.