Monday 28 January 2013

The Whale-Eater

Timingila

 
The Timingila is a huge aquatic creature that can swallow whole whales, as written about in the ancient historical text, Mahabharata (Vana Parva 168.3). It is also mentioned in Srimad Bhagavatam (12.9.16), Ramayana (Yuddha-kanda 4.114), Susruta Samhita (Ch.45), and Caitanya-caritamrta (Madhya-lila 13.142).

This Sanskrit root word literally means, "whale-swallower," via timi-, meaning whale, and -gila, meaning to swallow. It is a word used to describe a gigantic sea-creature, large enough to swallow whole whales in one bite.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timingila

This word is taken to be equivalent to the Biblical Leviathan, and Tannin. There are other versions in Arabic including a direct transcription.

I suggest that this name be chosen as the best-fit, most definite native name for the Cryptid category, and that the English equivalent is the translation, Whale-Eater. The suggested Latin name would be Cetiovore, which also means the same thing.
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3 comments:

  1. Unknown28 January 2013 at 08:20

    I guys,

    Check the whales and dolphins page at
    http://skaphandrus.com
    a comprehensive catalogue of marine species to sea lovers.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Tamara Henson29 January 2013 at 18:53

    What a coincidence, I just finished a novel featuring a creature very similar to this one. It was called Kronos by Jeremy Robinson. The basic plot: A sea serpent swallows a scientist's daughter and he is determined to kill it. He gets a big surprise. Interestingly each chapter has an old sea serpent etching.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Kyle Van Helsing30 January 2013 at 22:13

    Whoa...that's pretty cool, although I admit that I've never heard of it before.

    ReplyDelete

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