Garuda
Also known as Superna, the Garuda is a bird of Indian mythology frequently depicted in various paintings and sculptures. Sometimes it has the head and wings of a bird with a human body, and at other times it possesses a man’s face with the claws and body of a bird. Generally of pale countenance, it is represented with a golden body and scarlet wings.
Legend holds that Garuda was born from an egg that had been laid some five hundred years earlier, and upon hatching, its body expanded until it touched the sky and the mountains were driven back by the wind produced by the beating of its wings, while the rays of light emanating from its body set fire to the four corners of the world. Garuda performed astonishing feats, among them reaching the moon and vanquishing the gods.