The Garuda is a large mythical bird or bird-like creature that appears in both Hindu and Buddhist mythology. In Hindu mythology, Garuda is a lesser Hindu divinity, usually the mount of Vishnu. Garuda is depicted as having the golden body of a strong man with a white face, red wings, and an eagle's beak and with a crown on his head. This ancient deity was said to be massive, large enough to block out the sun. Garuda plays an important role in Krishna Avatar in which Krishna and Satyabhama ride on Garuda to kill Narakasura. On another occasion, Lord Hari rides on Garuda to save the devotee Elephant Gajendra. It is also said that Garuda's wings when flying will chant the Vedas. The exact size of the garuda is uncertain, but its wings are said to have a span of many miles. This may be a poetic exaggeration, but it is also said that when a garuda's wings flap, they create hurricane-like winds that darken the sky and blow down houses. A human being is so small compared to a garuda that a man can hide in the plumage of one without being noticed. They are also capable of tearing up entire banyan trees from their roots and carrying them off. The garudas are enemies to the Nagas, a race of intelligent serpent- or dragon-like beings, whom they hunt. The garudas at one time caught the nagas by seizing them by their heads; but the nagas learned that by swallowing large stones, they could make themselves too heavy to be carried by the garudas, wearing them out and killing them from exhaustion. This secret was divulged to one of the garudas by the ascetic Karambiya, who taught him how to seize a naga by the tail and force him to vomit up his stone. In the Mahasamyatta Sutta, the Buddha is shown making temporary peace between the Nagas and the garudas.

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Garuda

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