Myth of the Week · India
Nagas for kids: the serpent spirits of India
· P.Sean Tales
What lives at the bottom of every river? In Indian legend, the answer is a naga — a serpent spirit who guards the water, the rain and the treasure hidden beneath.
Half snake, half something else
Nagas are often drawn as enormous cobras with several hoods spread wide like a fan, and sometimes as people from the waist up with a serpent's coils below. Either way, the hood is how you know one when you see it.
Keepers of the rain
Because nagas rule the lakes and rivers, farmers believed a happy naga meant a good rainy season. Whole festivals exist to thank them, with offerings of milk left beside the water.
Not monsters
Nagas are not villains. They can be generous protectors or dangerous if disrespected — rather like the rivers themselves. The most famous of all, Shesha, is said to be so vast that the world rests upon his coils.
Did you know?
In many Indian carvings a naga curls up behind a resting figure and spreads its hoods overhead like an umbrella — a snake acting as a roof.
Color the legend yourself
The nagas glide through Indian Spirits & Ghosts — the apsaras, nagas and gentle spirits of India:
- Indian Spirits & Ghosts — nagas and apsaras
- Indian Gods & Goddesses
- Indian Heroes & Beasts
- Indian Demons & Asuras
Or start free: grab the free coloring pages.
You can find them in our book: Indian Spirits & Ghosts.