In some of the uninhabited regions of the world, the existence of some strange creatures is said to have been found, the creatures which are seen by very few people, and science still denies their presence. As we know, seventy percent part of the earth is covered by water, a very small portion of which has been explored yet, so it increases the possibility that there are many such creatures in the sea that we have not seen till date. Among such creatures, there are some mythical beings, known as mermaids, which are described in many stories, myths, and legends from ancient times to the present day. Mermaids are generally considered to be rare creatures with the upper part of humans and the lower part of fish. In this article today, we will try to reveal the complete mystery of mermaids, so let's begin...
Nearly thirty thousand years old ancient rock paintings from today have carved the shape of mermaids, where people are clearly seen hunting mermaids. The mermaids were even documented in the first century, the famous Roman author and natural philosopher "Pliny the Elder" has given information about the Mermaids in his amazing work called "The Natural History". Pliny wrote about half-human, half-fish creatures that he called nereids or sea nymphs, but the description fits what we would today call mermaids. He told that the army officer of Roman Emperor Augustus had seen the bodies of a lot of mermaids on the seashore, describing them as human-like creatures covered in fish scales. The Italian explorer and navigator "Christopher Columbus" spent most of his life in the ocean and he also argued that he saw three mermaids off the coast of Haiti in 1493.
Chinese legends tell that a person found a beautiful sea woman (mermaid) on the seashore, he was surprised to see her because she looks human in every respect but was like a fish from below. He tried to talk to her, but she cannot speak, and he took her to his home and married her. Spending time with that mysterious creature, he spent his entire life and then died one day. After his death, when people from the surrounding tried to see her, she had already returned to the sea where she was found.
In Greek mythology, the description of the mermaid has existed long back, in fact, they are called Sirens there and the word mermaid is derived from two separate words, Mer means sea and maid means "a girl or young woman", on combining it became 'maid of the sea'. It is said that Alexander the Great had a sister who did not die but was transformed into a mermaid. According to folklore, it all begins when Alexander was searching for the water of immortality but Thessaloniki drinks the water of immortality before her brother (intentionally or unintentionally, it is unconfirmed) and therefore. he curses her and she turns into a mermaid. In another version of the story, when Alexander died, in the deep sorrow of his brother's death, Thessalonike attempted to end her life by jumping into the sea, but instead of drowning, she became a mermaid.
Consequently, she started wandering into the sea and whenever she sees a ship, she always used to ask a question to the sailors, is King Alexander alive, if they answered 'No', then she sinks the ships and kills all its sailors by bringing a terrible storm in the sea from her tears. But if they respond in a positive way, then she would allow the ships and their crew to sail away safely in the calm seas.
Korea is bounded on three sides by the sea and there too these mermaid tales have been prevalent since ancient times. History of Korea gives information that Kim Dam Ryeong freed four captured mermaid from fishermen. It has also been stated that the mermaids present there used to inform the fishermen about the upcoming storms by singing and throwing rocks into the sea and save the lives of the people. In return, the residents there started to accept them as the goddess of the sea as they could predict the weather. Mermaids also have some supernatural powers that ordinary people do not have. They can predict the presence of storms and earthquakes beforehand, and they even have the power of hypnotizing anyone and even control the water.
The ancient writings and legends of India also have the impression of the existence of Mermaids. It is said that the kingdom of Naranda, also known as the kingdom of mermaids, is a place located deep inside the sea where the abode of mermaids resides. In the Ramayana period, when Lord Rama and the Vanar Sena had constructed a bridge for connecting India to Srilanka, then Ravana's daughter Suvannamaccha (literally, "golden mermaid") tried a lot to stop the path of Hanuman as per his father's command. She was actually a mermaid princess who tried to spoil Hanuman's path but falls in love with him instead.
Now if we talk about Japan, around the year 1222, the body of a dead mermaid was found ashore in Hakata Bay, on the Japanese island of Kyushu. There is a temple in Fukuoka town, named Ryuguji Temple, where the bones of this mermaid are still kept on display, which can be seen by appointment. But the Ryuguji temple is not the only sacred place in Japan where a Mermaid remains are present. Near Mount Fuji, at Fujinomiya, there is Japan's one of the oldest-known mermaid shrines. The temple at Tenshou-Kyousha has a mermaid mummy purported to be over 1,400 years old.
In the year 1890, a mermaid used to come on a beach of Scotland every day in the evening, and a crowd of people started gathering there to see her. People had said that the length of that mermaid was about seven feet and she used to sit peacefully on the stone along the seashore and went back after some time. Mermaids have also been described in history as two types, good mermaids and bad mermaids. Good mermaids are famous for saving people's lives, befriending them, and warning humans of impending disasters and bad mermaids are known for killing people. It is also believed that good mermaids can be seen at any time, but bad mermaids are exposed to people only at night.
Sailors often traveled by the sea with their ships, and during their long journeys, they had to spend the night in their ships, during which they encountered bad mermaids. These mermaids are very attractive in appearance and know such mesmerizing melodies that people are instantly fascinated by them. It is also believed that people can get hypnotized by looking in the eyes of a mermaid and after that, they drag them into the water and kill them. There was also a belief that mermaid tears are converted into pearls and because of this, fishermen were often looking for mermaid hunting and hence mermaids murders were continued since ancient times.
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