Garuda has the twin anatomy of the brahminy kite and a powerful man. As the vahana or divine mount of Lord Vishnu Himself, He is a visual zoomorph in most depictions. The painting you see on this page, however, is an abstract depiction with the faunal aspect as predominant.
A scaly, green body painted with the greatest patience and meticulousness. Deceptively scrawny falconiform legs, six of them. Great wings growing from the back of a distinctly human torso flanked by a pair of proportionate arms. The gaze of those animal eyes, set off by the sharp scarlet beak and the Vaishnava tilaka upon the brow crowned with bejeweled gold.
The interesting thing about this Garuda painting is the undeniable Tantric aspect. Various Mahavidya-roopas are painted upon the body of Garuda, from the wings and the chest to the navel and the thighs. A world of snakes that creep and crawl around the limbs of the Lord. Finally, the ominous colour of deeply textured earth in the background.
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