Vājimukha

This drawing began as a pencil sketch, intended to represent a mythical horse-headed being. The whole image was supposed to convey not an idea of violence, but of serenity and grace.

Occidental mythologies abound of such hybrid characters, and one can think of Minotaur or centaurs, whose persona were generally impulsive and aggressive…

I chose to use a background evoking ancient Greece, and as horses were usually linked to Poseidon, the trident seemed coherent.

Vājimukha

It remained a sketch for a while, and one day, as I decided to take over it, my researches brought me to a strikingly similar image in ancient Cambodian art, named Vājimukha, Vāji meaning horse, and mukha, face.

It was part of vishnuite art, and supposed to represent one of Vishnu’s avatars.

Inconsistencies in the legends highlight the ambiguous aspect of this being. Whether it is a demon (Daiytas), or a form assumed by Vishnu, it is associated with the loss of the sacred texts, the Vedas.

Known by the names Hayasivas or Hayagrivas, he protects the Vedas from demons Madhu and Kaitabha.

In another version, at the end of times, demon Ajnana (Ignorance) steals the Vedas and carry them down to hell (Rasātala). Hayagriva retrieves them and gives them back to Brahma.

Kalki

The tenth of Vishnu’s avatars, Kalki « white horse » (or Kalkipurana, Kalkyavatara) is yet to manifest on Earth.

It is interesting to notice that exegetes are not unanimous on his form. Is it a man mounted on a horse, or simply a horse ?

One should know that the horse is thought to represent the physical form of « evil », hinting toward a very oriental reflection on the initial idea.

Unlike the Minotaur, the monster is not merely annihilated but integrated, as if « evil », the shadow part of self, were but a part of an indivisible whole, one has to acknowledge and accept to transcend it…

Batoh Kannon

馬頭観音 Name of a manifestation of Buddha Kannon (Kuan Yin) 観音(菩薩) (Kannon-Botatsu), represented with a horse-head in Japan ; wrathful deity, his power of salvation operates on the realm of animals.

This wrathful form is worshipped in Tibetan Buddhism. Hayagriva is thought to beget 108 forms whose powers are to cure diseases, especially skin diseases as severe as leprosy —such diseases are traditionally related to waters and to the serpentine spirits inhabiting them, the Nagas).

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