Snake temples and serpatine worship in India - Page 2

Originally posted by: whitewitch

I heard somewhere milk is poison to snakes.
But hungry snakes will eat and drink anything

I read snakes will take liquid only when it's closed in a box or something similar for long time,then because of hunger they take whatever is offered to them

Originally posted by: abhiya_12

I read snakes will take liquid only when it's closed in a box or something similar for long time,then because of hunger they take whatever is offered to them

Originally posted by: Rein123

Would they accept mice and frogs since I believe they eat these creatures in the wild

Maybe in hunger don't know exactly

Other culture s
For Malay sailors, ngas are a type of dragon with many heads; in Thailand and Java, the nga is a wealthy underworld deity. In Laos they are beaked water serpents.

Thailand
In Thailand, nagas figure in some stories of the Thai folklore and are represented as well in wats as architectural elements. Phaya Naga is a well-known naga said to live in the Mekong. The Thai television soap opera Manisawat (Thai: ") is based on a naga legend.

Lake Chinni
In Malay and Orang Asli traditions, the lake Chinni, located in Pahang is home to a naga called Sri Gumum. Depending on legend versions, her predecessor Sri Pahang or her son left the lake and later fought a naga called Sri Kemboja. Kemboja is the former name of what is Cambodia. Like the naga legends there, there are stories about an ancient empire in lake Chinni, although the stories are not linked to the naga legends.
Cambodia

In a Cambodian legend, the nga were a reptilian race of beings under the King Kaliya who possessed a large empire or kingdom in the Pacific Ocean region until they were chased away by the Garuda and sought refuge in India. It was here Kaliya's daughter married an Indian Brahmana named Kaundinya, and from their union sprang the Cambodian people. Therefore, Cambodians possess a slogan "Born from the naga". As a dowry, Kaliya drank up the water that covered the country and exposed the land for his daughter and son-in-law to inhabit and thus, Cambodia was created.

The seven-headed nagas depicted as statues on Cambodian temples such as Angkor Wat, apparently represent the seven races within naga society, which has a mythological, or symbolic, association with "the seven colors of the rainbow". Furthermore, Cambodian naga possess numerological symbolism in the number of their heads. Odd-headed naga symbolise the Male Energy, Infinity, Timelessness, and Immortality. This is because, numerologically, all odd numbers come from One (1). Even-headed naga are said to be "Female, representing Physicality, Mortality, Temporality, and the Earth."



Laos
Naga are believed to live in the Laotian stretch of the Mekong or its estuaries. Lao mythology maintains that the naga are the protectors of Vientiane, and by extension, the Lao state. The naga association was most clearly articulated during and immediately after the reign of Anouvong. An important poem from this period San Leupphasun (Lao: ) discusses relations between Laos and Thailand in a veiled manner, using the naga and the garuda to represent the Lao and the Thai, respectively.[26] The naga is incorporated extensively into Lao iconography, and features prominently in Lao culture throughout the length of the country, not only in Vientiane.
Java

In Javanese culture, a Naga is a crowned giant magical serpent, sometimes winged. It is similarly derived from the Shiva-Hinduism tradition, merged with Javanese animism. The concept of Naga is prevalent in the Hindu period of Indonesia, before the introduction of Islam. In a wayang theater story a snake (naga) god named Sanghyang Anantaboga or Antaboga is a guardian deity in the bowels of the earth.

Philippines
In many parts of pre-Hispanic Philippines, the naga is used as an ornament in the hilt ends of longswords locally known as kampilans.

Naga other names are Marindaga, Marinaga, Maginaga are type of fresh water mermaids but instead of having fish tails they have eels and/or water snakes for tails and the upper body of a human female having alluring face, curvaceous body and long flowing hair.

Vicious to adults but gentle to children are considered the protectors of springs, wells and rivers. They bring rain, and thus fertility, but are also thought to bring disasters such as floods and drought.

Nagas are snake-like mermaids that may take human form. They tend to be very curious. According to traditions ngas are only malevolent to humans when they have been mistreated. They are susceptible to mankind's disrespectful actions in relation to the environment. They are also associated with waters"rivers, lakes, seas, and wells"and are generally regarded as guardians of treasure.

In other beliefs the most powerful of the Nagas became a goddess named Bakunawa. She is captivated by the beauty of the seven moons and turned herself into a giant dragon-serpent in order to reach them, but the deity Bathala punished her so she remained in her dragon state for all eternity

Wow Whitewitch!!! This thread is so informative.I am learning so much from here.Thank you very much for this thread!!

Originally posted by: ---Andromeda---

Wow Whitewitch!!! This thread is so informative.I am learning so much from here.Thank you very much for this thread!!

And @Rein,Manasa is Mahadev's daughter.She was adopted by Vasuki as his sister.

You are welcome ashi.
And credit goes to Rein too.
Reins questions are the trigger.

Snake temples of Kerala

100 years ago, Kerala had 30000 Snake temples. Today hardly 5000 are left. All these Snake Temples have been destroyed and the land used for building houses. Usually a Hindu will never build his house in an area which had a snake temple. So usually this land was sold to Muslims and Christians. Subdivision and fragmentation of huge plots of land, at the time of dividing property between children of deceased parents, had done so much of harm to Kerala.
Mythology says that Kerala was created from the Arabian Sea and given to the Brahmins (Namboothiris) as a "donation" by Parasurama to save himself from the sins of killing numerous kshathriya kings. The land was full of forests and poisonous snakes were found in plenty. So the Brahmins refused to stay there. Parasurama requested Lord Shiva to provide a solution. Shiva told Parasurama to start worshipping Anantha the king of snakes. Parasurama did so and Anantha advised him to start snake worship in Kerala and provide some forest especially for snakes in the form of Sarppakkavu (Snake forests). Parasurama later installed the idols of Anantha and Vasuki at Vettikkottu (near Kayamkulam in Alappuzha district) and Mannarassala(near Harippadu in Alappuzha district) and started worshipping them. The Brahmins also worshipped Anantha and Vasuki and the pleased snake gods made Kerala suitable for living.
Kerala,snake gods are worshipped in different forms like Nagaraja, Naga Yakshi, Naga Chamundi and Sarppa Yakshi.Naga Yakshi and Sarppa Yakshi are the wives of Lord Nagaraja and Naga Chamundi is his sister. Sarppabali, Noorum Palum and Manjal (turmeric powder) abhishekam are the main offerings to these deities. Vettikkottu, Mannarassala, Panayannarkavu (near Parumala), Sarngakkavu (near Venmani), Valliikkavu (near Chengannoor) and Pambummekkattu (near Mala) are the famous Sarppakkavus in Kerala.

Mannarsala Snake Temple

The temple at Mannarsala situated about 40 KM from Alappuzha and near to the town of Haripad, is dedicated to snakes and is quite unique among Kerala temples.This temple is claimed to be 6000 years old and is believed to have been built by Sage Parasurama. This small piece of land is believed to be the only area in the 'Khandeeva' forest mentioned in Mahabharatha, which remained unburnt while the rest perished. The people living in this village had saved several snakes which rushed into this area of the forest by constantly pouring water and drenching the earth. Since this is the place where "place where mud became cool", it was initially called "Mann aariya Salai" and later this became Mannarasalai.

Lord Parasurama who built a temple in this place brought several Brahmins and made them live in this place. But due to very large number of snakes and the water being saline, they left the place. Lord Parasurama did Thapas to Lord Shiva who asked him to propitiate Vasuki, the king of snakes for a solution. Parasurama did accordingly and Vasuki being pleased,assured him that these snakes would remain here but would not hurt anybody in this village. All villagers would have to build a snake temple in their house and daily light a lamp in front of it at dusk. As to the salt in the water, he was assured that it would be removed to the sea. Parasurama gladly agreed and again brought the Brahmins who were all Namboodiri Brahmins. They built their houses here and lived happily. Parasurama built a temple for Naga Raja and Naga Yakshi in that place. He instructed one family called Irinada palli to build their home in the temple compound. The first residents of this house were Vasudevan Namboodiri and his wife Sridevi andarjanam.

Their family continued to look after the temple,but after a while one of their descendants did not have children. They prayed at the temple and as a result, got two sons. One of them was a snake. This snake was born on Aslesha(Ayilyam) star of the Kumbha month (February-March). This snake son told his mother that the snakes living in the area were very happy with their family. However they wanted only the eldest female member of the family to perform the ceremonial worship in the temple. Since their mother was the eldest, the snake assured her that she would be taught all the rituals that have to be followed in the worship. He taught his mother the rituals and since that time, the worship in this temple is performed only by the eldest lady of the family (She is called Mannarsala Amma(mother)).Thereafter the snake son entered the dark store room in that house and warned that none should enter the room except that once a day it could be opened for worship by the Amma of the temple. She normally keeps a cup of milk and then closes the door. Next day, the cup is found empty. This snake in the store is called "Grand father" by all people and all of them revere that snake. The other son born along with the snake established two temples in Mannarsala, one dedicated to Naga Raja and another to Naga Yakshi. The story goes that one of the snakes in the temple was given as a dowry for a girl who got married to a Brahmin family in Kayankulam. That snake entered the store room of that house and a similar temple like Mannarsalai was built there. This temple is called Mey Palli. And is near Kayamkulam.

The most important offering in the temple is "noorum palaum.". This is the mixture of rice powder, turmeric powder and milk. These would be kept outside the temple at night. In the morning the contents of the vessel are poured in the mud. The Noorum palum is also given to the grand father in the store house. But the contents of the vessel disappear next day, when the store is opened.

It is well known that snakes of the temple do not bite anybody. Even if it bites nothing happens to the person. It is also well known that nothing is stolen from the temple. It is believed that the snakes