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Originally Posted by Prasanna Weerakkody
Balooshi, Including two images of Sinhala Lions with floral motifs emerging from the mouth. They are not Makara; as the body clearly is of a Lion not Makara.
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Salaams Weerakkody ~ Nice Lions. They are however not breathing Deities or monsters. The stuff coming from their mouths is floral.
Makara breath monsters... Nagas (snakes or serpents) and the half crocodile, half human form variously as seen at almost every Kastane hilt and related picture on this thread. These sub-monster-deity forms include the often portrayed minor Makara sliding down the knuckle guard and onto the finger-ring like quilons and in addition displaying fan tails of the peacock... The Peacock fantail is yet another Makara indicator. (see #56.)
Makara are shown on the gun lock jaws, the axe, and the Kastane.
I put it to you that your Lions are late additions and unrelated to the Kastane Hilt which is of Makara form. In later forms perhaps post 18th Century I imagine artistic impression may have blended the two heads on certain projects though I urge that what we ought to be focusing upon is the original style Kastane hilt ...The Makara.
As a note to Forum I point to
http://www.caravanacollection.com/?p...=kastane-sword (look also under Collection)where the author quite neatly describes the hilt as Makara and goes further to state the similarity of the guard with Mediterranean weapons previously not seen on Far Eastern sword styles and puts a 16th C. dateline to the mixture. I tend to agree with much of that.
Thus it is with the Portuguese/ Sri Lankan combined workshops that I focus.
Regards,
Ibrahiim al Balooshi.