Adbhut

In Adbhut: Marvellous Creatures of Indian Myth and Folklore Meena Arora Nayak presents a selection of fifty-five magical and monstrous creatures from the myths and folklore of India’s various cultures. Divided into five sections this book portrays familiar and unfamiliar beings that fly across stormy skies swim in deep seas burrow through the earth tread softly on land and live between these realms sometimes even breathing fire. Adbhut hides within its pages creatures that are mysterious terrible and terrifying yet fascinating and irresistible. These fantastical beings include the Manipuri python guardian god Pakhangpa; Garuda the king of birds; the immortal Kurma the tortoise; Mahisa the Buffalo King; Leviathan the gigantic sea monster; Shamir the Judaic stone-cutting worm; the Zoroastrian cosmic dragon Azhi Dahaka; Nachash the crafty serpent in the Garden of Eden; the shining Islamic al-Buraq; and the Harappan chimera whose origins remain a mystery.