Agni (Fire): forged from exchange

The Makara is a hybrid. A hybrid between European design and artisan craftsmanship of the geography and time period.Campen, Fitski, Horlyck, Kerr, Lunsingh Scheurleer, Śla̧czka, Southworth, et al. Asian Art. Amsterdam: Rijksmuseum, 2014.

The technique of the time period used in the Makara pendant is the setting of stones employing Kundan (“pure gold” in Hindustani). Thin strips of gold are burnished alongside the edges of the gems, thereby securing them to the structure to create patterns.Bycroft, Dupré, Bycroft, Michael, and Dupré, Sven. Gems in the Early Modern World : Materials, Knowledge and Global Trade, 1450-1800, 2019. Kundan was predominately used in the northern states of India from the Mughal empire, and this technique spread throughout the continent. Siebenhüner, Kim. “Precious Things in Motion: Luxury and the Circulation of Jewels in Mughal India.” In Luxury in Global Perspective, 27–54. Cambridge University Press, 2016. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781316257913.002.

The craftsmanship is very Indian-like, yet the design was based on European pendants from the 1600s. The paper-printed designs from Adriaen Coallert from 1582 have triangular-shaped pendants and chains that unite the lower body to the upper loop.Campen, Fitski, Horlyck, Kerr, Lunsingh Scheurleer, Śla̧czka, Southworth, et al. Asian Art. Amsterdam: Rijksmuseum, 2014. A triangular-shaped pendant in Europe symbolized the powers of the Christian trinity (father, son, holy spirit), giving it European characteristics of religious divinity and protection.

The naval officer who commissioned the Makara pendant at the Portuguese Embassy in Goa, would likely be a high-ranking officer, educated enough to know European pendant designs of the time. The tail and the Makara shape are similar to depictions of dolphins and fishes from Europe in an "s" shape with a slight curve.

The Makara has no static form pictured in various texts or among the stone statues around temples. The tail almost blends in with its surroundings and environment.Beer, Robert. The Encyclopedia of Tibetan Symbols and Motifs. [2nd rev. ed]. Chicago: Serindia Publications, 2004. The craftsmanship may be from Goa, but its design is very European.

It lives within the earth and the godly realm, and the tail is often seen as an extension of the water in which it dwells, or the clouds, where the Makara was seen as a guardian of the heavenly gates. Even if the depiction of the Makara in the pendant is very static, the Makara itself is not. It shifts between worlds, through different realities than our own.

The powerful qualities of pendants are portrayed not only in the materials in which they were made, but also in the icons themselves. Pendants throughout history and in different cultures have been used in various forms, like amulets and talismans. These were often believed to possess spiritual power, protect the wearer from danger, and transfer unique benefits and energies upon the wearer.

(Want to see the making of an earring with Kundan setting? Then have a look at the video in the extension)