Dragon
Dragons are commonly symbols of good luck or health in some parts of Asia, and are also sometimes worshipped. Asian dragons are considered as mythical rulers of weather, specifically rain and water, and are usually depicted as the guardians of pearls.
Dragon
The Nâga – a minor deity taking the form of a serpent – is common within both the Hindu and Buddhist traditions. Technically, the naga is not a dragon, though it is often taken as such (especially in east Asian forms of Buddhism); the term is ambiguous, and refers both to a tribe of people known as ‘Nâgas’, as well as to elephants and ordinary snakes. Within a mythological context, it refers to a deity assuming the form of a serpent with either one or many heads.
Occasionally the Buddha is depicted as sitting upon the coils of a serpent, with a fan of several serpent heads extending over his body, or sitting on a lotus flower, which was also a reminder of the dragon. This is in reference to Mucalinda, a Nâga that protected Úâkyamuni Buddha from the elements during the time of his enlightenment. Separated from the contextualising effect of the Buddha story, people may see only the head and thus infer that Mucalinda is a dragon, rather than a deity in serpentine form. Stairway railings on Buddhist temples will occasionally be worked to resemble the body of a Nâga with the head at the base of the railing. In Thailand, the head of Nâga, in a more impressionistic form, can be seen at the corners of temple roofs, with Nâga’s body forming the ornamentation on roofline eves up to the gables.
