Of the many animals and birds used by traditional Burmese art, I will describe the most common nine in this chapter: makan, naga, hintha, galon, bilu, kinari-kinara, manoutthiha, udaung and chinthei. To illustrate their gradual development through the ages, I will accompany the chapter with drawings I have made of Burmese art are not realistic likenesses of the live ones but rather stylished versions made more beautiful with the help of kanout patterns. In some the whole figure is created as a unit of the design while in others the patturns serve as decorations to the whole. The cratures are important in Buddhist Burmese art.

Naga or Serpent
          Of the ten great Buddhist jatakans one is the story of Bhuridatta the serpent. Of the 108 signs in the foodprint of the Buddha No 72 (or 73) is said to be Vasuki the Serpent King. Sometimes the foodprint has a serpent twining roud it is memory of the serpent Nammada at whose request the Buddha left the foodprint according to the legend. While the Buddha was sojourning by Mucalinda lake, it began to rain and the serpent of the lake used his hood as and umbrella to protect the Buddha. To commemorate this episode nagayon pagodas (pagodas in the form of a serpent giving shelter to the Buddha image) came to be built. Sometimes there is one single serpent, sometimes there are two, sometimes there are three, five, seven or nine.
          Whether painted, carved or cast in metal, the naga in the earlier ages have very few kanout decorations. It is only in the later Konbhaung age that we find kanout patterns in the naga figure. One who wants to draw or varve a naga must know the rudiments of kanout design.
          The nagalein or twisted serpent designs of Ava mural paintings at Hpowin (Hpo-u) hill are delights of the design artists.
The hleyin cart in Thaungtwinkyi Museum has very elegant decorations with naga, kinnari-kinnara and human figures.

Galon or Garuda
          The galon is said to be the king of birds. It is belived to be very strong and powerful. No 62 (or 63) of the 108 signs in the footprint of the Buddha is Supanna-raja, Galon King. Of the days of the week Sunday is often symbolised by a figure of the garuda.
          The garuda has been in use in countries of south east Asia for thousands of the years. In Burma the use began only in Pagan age. The Vishnu image that used to be at the Nathlaung monastery, Pagan, had one foot on a garuda trampling two nagas. It was very Indian. In Pagan the garuda was not as popular as the Kinnara. It was only in mid-Konbhaung and later period that garuda figures were used in decorations. There is a giant painting of a garuda inside Ananda brick monastery, where murals belonging to early Konbhaung period can be seen.
          Wood sculptures of the garuda look more beautiful than the painted ones. In Amarapura we also have stucco figures of the garuda.

Hintha or Hamsa
          Hamsa or Hintha features in a number of Buddhist Jataka stories. We find hintha figures in paintings, stucco and stone works of the Pagan period. Some are placed on either side of the head of the Buddha image while others can be seen in khapat pan and hsekpan. A beautiful stucco hintha is found in Nanhpaya temple. The twin hintha is from the Pagan museum. The hintha with their necks laid together comes from the kweklehsek pan in the murals of Kontawkyi, Nyaung-u. In the nativity scene in the murals of Lawka-hteippan temple, Pagan, Queen Maya's skirt is patterned with circles containing hinthas and flowers. A brick hintha decoration is found at Zeyyathut pagoda, east Hpwa Saw. A Yama lekhnyo stucco work in hintha portal is to be found at the brick monastery of west Hpwa Saw.
          The hintha in the murals of Tilokaguru Cave at Sagaing has kanout in its tail. The hinthas in the shweisawa book covers of Amarapura period are a good match with the circles. The hintha from a bell hanger is copied from U Thawbhita (Shweikaingtha).
Hintha oup (container in the shape of a hintha) decorated in gold inlay came in fashion in Amarapura and Yatanapon period. The tankhuntaing or sacred flagstaff at a pagoda has a hintha image on top. One of the royal insignia of Konbhaung kings is a hintha oup. There is also hintha legs for the royal bed and hintha shoes for the royal feet. To this day the hintha is loved by both Mons and Burmese.
          Of the 108 signs in the footprints of the Buddha No 73 (or 74) is a hintha. The Buddha had been born animals and birds in his previous existences. Of this 136 are famous. Out of these 136 lives 9 had been hamsa (swan).

Bhilu
          The Bhilu or Yaksha (ogre) features a lot in the Jataka stories. There are differant kinds of bhilus, who are higher and more powerful than animals. In Vidhura-jataka, the Yakkha Punnaka is the fiance of the serpent girl Iranasi and he ill-treats the Bodhisatva Vidhura. In the Buddha's time Alavaka was agrate powerful yakkha. Ravana or Dasagirl in Ramayana is a grate yakha too.
          Of the bhilu figfures of Pagan I like the guardian bhilu, a stucco work, at the portal of Kyaukky-umin. He has an elephant figurine for his earrings. The bhilus in the murals of Hpyathonshu are remarkable for their kanout design. Bhilu panhsve are used in all the ages. Wood sculptures of bhilu are often dancing bhilus of the zat troupe.
          

The bhilu as a work of art in an admirable thing. It is fearsome and at once graceful. InYatanapon period Thai styles begin to dominate. There are all styles of bhilu: sitting bhilu, threatening bhilu, waiting bhilu, directing bhilu, sword bearing bhilu, flag carrying bhilu, etc. Apart from the bhilu panhswe and guardian bhilu of the pagodas mentioned above, There the bhilu that guards the forest, the one that guards the treasure, the one that guards a pond, monkey-bhilu, and so on and so forth.

Keinnaya or Kinnara
          Of the 136 famous past animal lives of the Buddha, four had been as keinnaya. It is No 81 (or 80) of the 108 signs in the footprint of the Buddha. In lacquerware Gemini the third sign of the Zodiac is represented by a keinnaya couple in place of the usual twins. There are three kinds of keinnaya: the bird, the human and the deva keinnayas. In painting and sculpures the bird variety is the most common-- the ones with talons. The human keinnaya has clothes on with some ornaments. The deva keinnayas have more ornaments than the human ones. In the scriptures the kinnaras are often portrayed as passionate lovers who are loyal to each other.

            Both the Burmese and Thais seem to be fond of keinnayas. But there is this difference: unlike the Thai keinnayas the Burmese ones have their breasts and nether parts covered. In latter periods the wings are attached to the arms, too. The dress styles of the keinnaya in mural paintings reflect those of the people in those days. More wood, stone and stucco carvings of the keinnaya were done in the Amarapura period.
            The keinnaya that has fascinated me is a copper figure on a hand-loom in Kyachaung, Chaung-u, Monywa.


Peacock

          Although it is said the peacock has been since the days of Pagan, it was not earlier than Ava that the Burmese took seriously of the symbol. The same is true of the peacock as the symbol of the sun. In Pagan mural paintings the sun in always represented by a horse. The use of the peacock for the sun began in Konbhaung period. In the 108 of the Buddha's footprint No 83 is the peacock. In Yatanapon period the peacock is used on the observe side of the coin. During the nationalist movement the peacock came to the forefront.

         Peacock figures in circles on thazinkhwei patterns in the wood sculptures of the Princess' Monastery and the Queen Mothers Monastery are witness to the masterliness of the design artist. The wood peacock in the Monastery of Gangaw village on Pagan Singu mortorway is a wonderful work of art.

Chinthei or lion
          The lion of the Buddhist scriptures is said to be Kasaraja, King of the lions, stronger and mightier than the lion of the forest. It is NO 68 in the 108 signs of the Buddha's footprint. In Burmese art the lion is greatly stylised, a design with kanout patterns, no longer recognisable as the flesh and blood animal. But the Pyu lion in Srikshetra Museum is very much the natural lion. The stucco lion unearthed at Beitthano has some kanout patterns on it. In Pagan the stone lions have no ornamentations at all. Only in Hpayathonsu murals do we find kanout on the lions. The little lion in the western stairway of Shweisikhon looks very Indian.
The stucco lions of Amarapura have different styles of kanout designs on them. The lion at the top of the weatern stairway at Shweigukyi Pagoda, Amarapura, is remarkable for its size as well as graceful kanout designs. There are very fine pieces of chinthei of Amarapura type at Mandalay too.

(Ref: Burmese Design Through Drawings)