Tompondrano

 


Tompondrano means lord of the water in Malagasy. The name is used for both ordinary water snakes and a mythical giant water snake. The tompondrano is believed by multiple different cultures in Madagascar, who each have slightly different interpretations. While the creature is usually thought of as a giant snake, various groups in Madagascar also see it as other creatures, such as whales, sharks, crocodiles and even pilot fish. Most legends about the tompondrano are of a fresh water creature, but some groups see it as a sea creature, or able to move between both kinds of water.

The tompondrano is believed to be a regular water snake that was blessed by the Vazimba, a mythical race of fae like people who live in the center of Madagascar. This made the tompondrano sacred and granted it magical powers over water. Such sacred associations were extended to all water snakes, which people were forbidden from harming. And if one was found dead it would be wrapped in silk in the same manner as a human corpse.

Even with all these magical associations the original mythical tompondrano was still thought to look like a regular snake, or its appearance was left undescribed.

The tompondrano that is best known in the west is a cryptid seen off the coast of Madagascar in 1926. Mr G Petit saw this version of the tompondrano shortly before a cyclone hit the coast of Madagascar. He initially saw a flashing light every few seconds. He thought at first this was the beacon from a ship, yet as he watch it became obvious to him that the light was being emitted by some sort of creature. The tompondrano was barrel rolling over and over as it swam. It had a large bulbous head, from it left a long bioluminecent trail. It's body was long like a snake or a eel, flattened top to bottom, and covered in hard plates. It had a lobster like tail, which is moved up and down to swim like a whale. The next day Mr Petit asked the locals what such a creature was. He was told by the Vezo people that it was the tompondrano.

I find it interesting that the tompondrano Mr Petit saw diverges so drastically from the the legendary version. The long flattened body and crustacean like plates are oddly similar to the con rit, a cryptid which was seen in Vietnam between the 1830's and 1920's. I have to wonder if the con rit actually had a much larger range, one across the Indian Ocean, rather than just the coastal waters of Vietnam.  


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