Introduction

Nagas are one of the most prominent mythological beings mentioned in the Hindu scriptures. They are supernatural serpents in Hindu mythology and are depicted as either complete serpents, complete humans with multiple snake hoods emerging from their back, beings with half-snake and half-human body, and some having the ability to shapeshift between these forms. They are said to live in Patal Lok, an aquatic realm under the surface of the earth that is filled with treasures, unimaginable to humankind, and anthills are often considered as holy portals to this semi-divine underworld. Apart from that underworld, Nagas also dwell in other water bodies like lakes, rivers and oceans. These divine creatures with mystical powers are synonymous with nature spirits and are a symbol of rebirth, death, fertility, immortality, medicine, health and wealth. Due to this, snake worship has been a practice in India since ancient times. An iconic festival dedicated to snakes is Nag Panchmi. People all over the country offer their prayers to these nature spirits as a part of the celebrations.

According to Mahabharata, rishi Kashyap and Kadru, daughter of Daksh, are the parents of all nagas. Out of them, Shesha was the eldest, and then came Vasuki, Manasa, and many others. Kashyapa had another wife, who was also Kadru’s sister, Vinata. She gave birth to Vishnu’s vahana, Garuda, an eagle-human hybrid and he became the arch-nemesis of the nagas since eagles consume snakes. In the Ramayana, Indrajit used the Nagapasha astra on Rama and Lakshmana, which hurled venomous snakes over them. The two fell unconscious and Garuda came to their rescue. He got rid of the venomous snakes. There are various stories of enmity between Garuda and nagas in the scriptures, which depict the aggressive nature of the nagas. But on the contrary, there are also some nagas that are mentioned in the scriptures for their good deeds, in both Vaishnavism and Shaivism.

In various Asian religious traditions, the Nagas (Sanskrit: नाग, romanized: Nāga) are a divine, or semi-divine, race of half-human, half-serpent beings that reside in the netherworld (Patala), and can occasionally take human or part-human form, or are so depicted in art. A female naga is called a Nagi, or a Nagini. Their descendents are known as Nagavanshi and Nair. According to legend, they are the children of the sage Kashyapa and Kadru. Rituals devoted to these supernatural beings have been taking place throughout South Asia for at least 2,000 years. They are principally depicted in three forms: as entirely human with snakes on the heads and necks, as common serpents, or as half-human, half-snake beings in Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism.

Nagaraja is the title given to the king of the nagas. Narratives of these beings hold cultural significance in the mythological traditions of many South Asian and Southeast Asian cultures, and within Hinduism and Buddhism. Communities such as the Nagavanshi, Nair, Khmer and Eelamese claim descent from this race.

In Sanskrit, a nāgá (नाग) is a snake, most often depicted by a cobra, the Indian cobra (Naga Raja). A synonym for nāgá is phaṇin (फणिन्). There are several words for "snake" in general, and one of the very commonly used ones is sarpá (सर्प). Sometimes the word nāgá is also used generically to mean "snake". The word is cognate with English 'snake', Germanic: *snēk-a-, Proto-IE: *(s)nēg-o- (with s-mobile).

Alternatively, an Indo-European etymology as a “hairless, naked animal” - cognate to English "naked" - would explain that the Sanskrit word nāga can also mean “cloud”, “mountain” or “elephant”.

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