I recently watched Dune (2021), a film based on the six-book saga written by Frank Herbert, and while I am yet to read the books, I was immediately captivated by the desert worms depicted in the film.
These deadly worms reside on a planet called Arrakis, and are described as having ‘huge, gaping mouths’. In the film, these gigantic beasts are attracted to rhythmic movements on the surface of the sand – once they spot you, you’re as good as dead. The desert worms pose as a huge threat to the efforts to mine ‘spice’, an essential commodity found on the surface of the sand.
The original inspiration for these creatures is said to have come from European and Greek descriptions of dragons. The epic Beowulf in particular – which was one of the first epics to feature a hero slaying a dragon – proved to be a strong source of inspiration. Here, the description of a dragon is similar to our modern understanding of the term: a huge, scaly, fire-breathing, winged creature. The Greek source of inspiration, on the other hand, came from the Colchian dragon, described as an ‘immense serpent’ which guarded the golden fleece at Colchis.
The desert worms are sources of terrible darkness, death and destruction, feared by all – and even deified. Some see them as the protectors of the spice on planet Arrakis, while others see them as a fatal obstacle in the economic progress of the planet. Regardless, they are a force to be reckoned with.
I was intrigued by these creatures, entirely unique yet bearing such interesting derivations of ancient lore – so imagine my surprise when I stumbled across the description of a creature from Indian mythology that sounded startlingly similar to the Dune worms, and yet has no apparent connection to the Dune worms’ creative conception.
According to the Ayyavazhi faith practiced in South India, there was a creature named Kroni, which represented all evil in the world. Kroni was born in the first of the eight yugams (ages) of our existence, and had hundreds of limbs, each the size of a mountain. But as soon as it was born, it was consumed by ravenous hunger and unquenchable thirst. Unable to contain its appetite, Kroni began to consume the universe – it was finally stopped by the god Mayon before it could consume everything. Mayon sliced Kroni into six parts which scattered across the six following yugams, each to be battled separately by Mayon.
The first part of Kroni became Kuntomasali, a ‘monstrous, gigantic leech, hundreds of feet high and thousands long’. Sounds familiar? Here’s a picture of it, depicted in Ghosts, Monsters and Demons of India –
Uncanny, isn’t it? And yet there appears to be no connection between this creature and the one that came to life in the Dune universe.
According to Ayyavazhi legend, the second and third fragments became evil rulers in their respective yugams; the fourth fragment became Ravan, the king of Lanka, and the fifth fragment became the legendary king Duryodhana of the Mahabharata.
The last fragment rules our current yugam as Kaliyan, which is the Tamil name for the goddess Kali. After Mayon’s final battle, this last fragment of Kroni will be defeated once and for all, leading to the eight and last yugam, the peaceful Dharma Yugam.
Although the similarities with the Dune worm and Kroni end with Kroni’s first fragment, I am fascinated by how the world is peppered with creatures and stories that share such interesting similarities. In a way, Kroni also reminds me of the snake in the Garden of Eden in Christianity, with the snake also representing a deep evil.
To me, this coincidental encounter served as a reminder of how connected we are through the stories of the past that remain alive even today.
Works Cited
Bhairav, J. Furcifer and Rakesh Khanna. Ghosts, Monsters and Demons of India. Chennai: Blaft publications. 2020. Print.
Ross, Bella. “Dune’s Sandworms Explained: Why They’re So Important” Screenrant. November 5th, 2021. Web. < https://screenrant.com/dune-sandworms-importance-book-movie-explained/ > as seen on July 5th, 2022.
I had never even heard of the Ayavazhi faith before this. Such an interesting take on Raavan as well, since he is praised for his sense of dharma in some cultures.