Here is a makara staircase from Candi Shiva, whose balustrade ascends from earth to the sky like a rainbow. The "serpent rainbow" theme is ubiquitous in Asia, Africa, Australia, the Americas, etc. In Southeast Asia it appears both as a staircase and, even more startlingly, as a kala-makara arch that frames the entrance to most temples. The creatures in, or upon, the makara's mouth are best understood as free flights of the artist's fancy; it is the idea of the serpent rainbow itself, with its attendant symbolism, that carries the whole freight of cultural significance.