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myths
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Nepalese Mythology |
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Tiger
symbolizes unlimited power. Durga riding a tiger indicates
that She possesses unlimited power and uses it to protect
virtue and destroy evil.The tiger is vahana(vehicle) of goddess
DURGA. In Nepal there is no burning of Ravana on Dusshera
because it is believed that Goddess Durga, riding a tiger,
killed Mahishasura ( a buffalo-headed demon) on the same day.
Mahishasura it is said , was so powerful that none of the
gods were able to defeat him. Therefore they met together
to form Durga with 18 hands, many weapons, riding a tiger.
It thus shows that tiger has always been a very important
symbol of power & might. |
Chiniese
Mythology |
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Every
place has something they believe in. They are often called
a myth or legend. To a majority of ethnic groups they are
in believe of a god and myths on animals. In this case for
China they have a big thing for animals like tiger, dragons,
serpents, snakes, ect. They each have a myth or legend on
the animal. It is a story of respecting the animal and showing
that an animal is useful. Now about tigers. To china they
are respected. Like in Chinese mythology there is a story
called "The tale of the trusty tiger" which I fond
interesting. The tiger is well respected after saving a man
that was trapped in a ditch. The man respected the tiger by
every year feeding the tiger a fresh pig. There is another
tale called "Tiger boys" which I fond interesting.
It is another myth on boys going to the woods turning in to
tigers. There is other tales that you can check out. Now I
will be talking about tigers and their different types. There
is the Sumatran Tigers and there is also the Siberian Tigers.
The five different types of living tigers today are: Siberian
Tiger, Bengal Tiger, South-China Tiger, Indo-Chinese Tiger,
and the Sumatran Tiger. The Siberian Tiger's scientific name
is Panthera tigris altaica. The Siberian Tiger is the largest
living cat today. There are three types of tigers that became
extinct. Those tigers are called The Bali Tiger, Javan Tiger,
and the caspian Tiger. There was eight types of tigers before,
but now there is five types left. The south china tiger is
near extinction. Only 20-30 south china tigers are left in
the whole world. Probably they will pay more attention to
the south china tigers. I know that in China they are doing
all they can to save the tigers because they are very fond
of them. Without that tiger it might change the way things
are in China. I know they have great respect for this great
type of a tiger. Even if China has all those other myths on
animals they are really close to losing one of their well
known animals or their type of tiger. In my opinion they are
probably going to lose one of their best animals and maybe
the best. |
Indian
Mythology |
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The
tiger is associated with Lord Ayyappan of Sabarimala, who
was born by the union of Lord Shiva with Mohini (incarnation
of Lord Vishnu). According to legend, Ayyappan, was found
by a king and queen on the banks of a river and brought him
to their palace. When the queen had a child of her own, she
became jealous of Ayyappan and planned to get him killed.
She pretended to be ill and sent Ayyappan to fetch tiger’s
milk to cure her illness. She expected him to be killed by
the tigers and was surprised to see Ayyappan return to the
palace riding on a tiger, with the other tigers following
him. Lord Shiva is often depicted wearing or seated on a tiger
skin. The Lord also bears the name Vyaghranatheshwara (Vyaghra
means tiger + Natheswar means Lord), because he once had slain
a demon, who had taken the form of a tiger.
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Korean
Mythology |
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Tigers
have always played a key role in Korea’s history and
mythology. Many readers are probably aware of the legend of
Tangun, the founder of Korea. Basically there was a bear and
a tiger who desired to become humans. They were told that
if they could endure the darkness of a cave, eating nothing
more than mugwart and cloves of garlic, for 100 days, they
would be transformed into humans.
The bear succeeded
and was transformed into a beautiful woman who later bore
Tan’gun, but the tiger, unable to restrain his desire
to wander, failed. Fortunately for the tiger, Hwanung (the
son of the God of Creation) was merciful and allowed the tiger
to remain in his presence as a guardian while Hwanung was
upon the earth
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