Wayanad’s Makara Dragon

Abstract

I wrote this poem after visiting a Jain temple in Sultan Bathery during my fieldwork on human- wild boar conflict in Wayanad, Kerala. Sultan Bathery was the ammunition centre (Sultan: king; battery: ammunition store) for Tipu Sultan, of Kingdom of Mysore when he invaded Wayanad in the 18th century. Jain philosophy is renowned for its nonviolent approach to living with animals, and Wayanad, a forested district in Kerala, has seen human-wildlife conflict escalate over the last few years. My poem explores this juxtaposition. The Jain temple had several animal figures, the most important being the makara, who is the protagonist of the poem. The makara is a mythical dragon-like creature seen in Jain temples, believed to embody a good soldier because they possess the best attributes of several animals. As human-wildlife conflict continues to rise, social and print media report daily about the destruction of human property and provide detailed accounts of human loss and suffering. What do animals think of coexistence? This poem poeticises animal subjectivity, even as they are trapped in hierarchies of power and stone in history