Makara in Khmer and Thai temple traditions

Record summary

Makara is a composite aquatic or dragon-like creature documented in South and Southeast Asian religious art, including Khmer and Thai temple ornament. Art historians working in the target period examined its transmission, regional variants and relationship to naga and other hybrid beings. It offers a useful comparison case for claims involving flying dragons or anomalous reptiles because its morphology is demonstrably shaped by artistic convention and religious symbolism. The lead concerns historical imagery and textual tradition, not evidence that a biological makara survived into the modern period.