The Crocodile, Makara, and Gohi

Makara which means sea monster in Sanskrit is widely accepted as Crocodile in English and Gohi in Nepali. Crocodiles have maintained a negative reputation, in Hindu astrology, Makara is reputed as a zodiac which is parallel to Capricorn. It should be noted that even Capricorn is sometimes perceived as half mammal and half fish. 

Makara is the vehicle of Varun, the Vedic god of the water, rivers, and ocean as well as the vehicle for Ganga, the holiest river of the Hindus. There are additional claims that Makara of Ganga are dolphins, as dolphins like crocodiles are found in the Ganga River. 

The association of Makara with water gods could clarify the affinity of sculpting Makara in water spouts. 

The literature of Makara as a symbol of water spout could be dated to at least the 12th century in the literature such as Aparajita-prchchha which mentions using a makara-pranala, a system to clear water out of the temple’s platform. 

The usage of Makara as a water spout can be seen in Java, Indonesia, Khmer temple in Cambodia, and is a very recurring and popular symbol in the water system constructed by  Newars of Nepal. 

The earliest evidence of such functional Hiti in Nepal is 570 CE Manga Hiti in Mangal Bazaar, Kathmandu Valley.

Makara is generally seen as a mythical creature with an elephant trunk, a crocodile’s mouth, a wild boar’s ears and tusks, and a peacock’s tail. Below such stone spout is the sculpture of Bhagirath, a mythical king who brought the river Ganga to earth. 

While the Hiti has been drying out, Nepal’s reputation as a country where the wildlife population is rising continues to make a mark in the news. 

In Chitwan National Park there were fewer than 81 crocodiles in 1978. 25 eggs were collected from Babai and another conservation center was established in Bardiya National Park in 1982.  

In 2017 male Ghadiyal was released in the Rapti river that was brought from Chitwan National Park, the released crocodile is 35 years old and is 416 centimeters long, and weighs 800 kg. The only male crocodile that was useful for breeding in the Narayani and Rapti rivers died after being trapped in a net in Amaltari Narayani in May 2017.

In May 2023, CNP collected 259 crocodile eggs from Rapti River from nine nests. In the past 5 years, 563 crocodile eggs were collected from which 496 hatched to produce hatchlings around which 300 survived. 

Phoebe Griffith, a British researcher remarked only 1% of baby gharials bred in natural habitats have survived.  As the newborn's survival rate in the wild hovers around 1% the governments of Nepal and India have launched captive-breeding programs with healthy hatchlings released back into the river system.

In Nepal, the story of wildlife seems like a pattern, as the population of wildlife continues to grow the human-wildlife conflict also seems to be growing.