Rajasaurus in Hindu temple?

[Adrienne Mayor <afmayor@aol.com>]

In summer of 2003, Jeff Wilson, Paul Sereno, Suresh Srivastava, and  
Ashok Sahni led a team that discovered the remains of Rajasaurus  
narmadensis, a stocky, 30 foot long theropod dinosaur with an unusual  
horn or crest, in the valley of the Narmada River in northern India.  
Their expedition was inspired by earlier finds, in 1981, when  
Srivastava had studied numerous large "balls" found by workers in a  
limestone quarry. They turned out to be Rajasaurus eggs. Dinosaur  
skeletons are rare in India, but clutches of the large eggs and the  
dino bones are abundant in the region.

Some paintings of a deity called Sharabha (or Pakshriaja) in Hindu  
shrines and temples in the Narmada region have been brought to my  
attention, as possibly related to pre-scientific discoveries of  
dinosaur fossils in northern India. Sharabha combines the features of  
bird, reptile, and large predatory mammal. Temple paintings of this  
being (made in about 1700) show a composite creature whose skull  
bears a striking resemblance to the skull of Rajasaurus, with a  
little pointed horn and similar teeth. There is also a curious red  
outline around the skull that resembles the beak of protoceratopsid  
dinosaurs, common in Mongolia.

I am told that fossilized dinosaur bones and large eggs are kept in  
Sharabha shrines. If so, this suggests that the god's image might be  
related to dinosaur fossils. The god's hybrid image may have first  
originated as an imaginary creature. Then when people saw dinosaur  
remains that seem to combine avian, reptilian, and mammalian  
features, along with large stone eggs, the mysterious remains were  
associated with the god.

I'd love to have some feedback from experts on the list. If you'd  
like to examine the painting of Sharabha and compare it to  
Rajasaurus, please contact me off list.

Thanks in advance.