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I have long heard of Indians worshiping snakes. I have always been curious about Indians worshiping snakes. Why is such a dangerous and scary-looking animal in India? To get so much respect?
India even has special snake god festivals such as Naga Panchami. On the day of the festival, faithful men and women, especially married women, will bathe snakes in milk to pray for the protection of the snake gods and keep them away from evil harm.
There happens to be a small snake temple in the city of Mysore where I live now. Because it is still the rainy season in Mysore, it rains intermittently during the day, and the sky becomes clear at night, so I went to visit the temple in Mysore at night. The Snake Temple in the north of Sol City.
Visiting the Snake Temple at Night
This is a very small temple with no special name. It is called Snake Temple. It is located near Sri Prasanna Parvati Kalyana Mantapa and is located in Temple. Road.
The temple is surrounded by iron fences and walls in a rectangular shape. Close to the front side of the road is a rockery built on a stone bench. Surrounded by a black king cobra on the rockery, under the stone bench is a statue of two snakes mating. of gods. There are also statues of Linga, Ganesha and Nandi on the rockery.
In the middle of the temple is a Bodhi tree that is hundreds of years old. The trunk is as thick as three people can wrap around it. It can be said that this Snake Temple is built under the Bodhi tree.
On the back left side is a wall with pictures of gods, and on the back right side is the holy chamber of Shani, the Hindu god of justice.
The temple is hosted and maintained by a middle-aged couple.
Who is the snake god worshiped here?
This small temple is dedicated to the snake king Nagaraja, also known as Vasuki, Vasuki. Vasuki is the big snake around the neck of Shiva .
According to the story of "Churching the Ocean of Milk" in the Mahabharata, in order to obtain the elixir of death - nectar, the gods and asuras used the Mandala Mountain as a churning stick and the snake king Vasuji as a churning rope. The sea of milk in order to obtain nectar.
The stirring produced a poison that could kill all living things. In order to protect the living beings, Shiva swallowed the poison.
Vasuji has always been a loyal believer of Shiva. Before the poison entered Shiva's belly, the big snake wrapped around Shiva's neck to prevent the poison from harming Shiva. The poison stayed on Shiva's neck. The poison turned Shiva's neck blue, so Shiva was also known as the blue neck.
In the Hindu holy book "Mahabharata", the snake king Vasuji is described as an image of justice, kindness, wisdom, caring for the world, and the leader among snakes. After he saved Lord Shiva, he even became more intimate with Shiva. Closely connected, it often appears in Shiva temples together with lingam , Shiva statues, Nandi statues, etc. as another symbol of Shiva.
Most of the images of Vasuji appearing in Shiva temples are protectors and guardians. In sculptures, Vasuji usually covers the Shiva or Linga statues with multiple snake heads, or together with his wife Nagini, he will Shiva or Linga are entangled, which means protection.
Vasuji also has his own temple, the Nagaraja Temple in Tamil Nadu and the Kukke Subramanya Temple in Karnataka .
Respected snake gods include Astika, the human-snake hybrid who saved the snake tribe, Vasuki's sister, the female snake god Menesha, Vishnu the great snake Adishesha, the poisonous snake Kaliya, etc.
Shiva has a considerable number of believers in South India. Similarly, the snake king Vasuji and other snake gods also have many loyal followers in South India.
Why can snakes become gods in India?
Hindus worship snakes, and they are selective. They especially worship the king cobra.
In Sanskrit, Nagas means king cobra. They are considered holy and are widely worshiped in India and countries influenced by Hindu culture, such as South Asia, Southeast Asia and other countries.
One of the important reasons why the unappealing cobra is particularly respected by Hindus is that snakes are more or less associated with Hindu gods.
In addition to the snake king Vasuki and Vasuki mentioned above, Shiva is also decorated with other snakes in many places. Hindus believe that Shiva uses snakes as decoration to show his bravery and eternal life to the gods.
Vishnu, another main god in Hinduism, uses Adi Shesha, a cobra with countless heads, as his bed.
It is said that Adi Shesha served as Vishnu's resting bed for three consecutive centuries, supporting and helping Vishnu maintain the operation of the universe.
Adi Shesha is considered to be beyond the concept of time and is the power of the entire universe.
Similarly, the elephant-headed god Ganesha, Shiva's wife Parvati, and the victor Murugan are all decorated with cobras.
Other snakes associated with the great gods in Hinduism include Kaliya. Kaliya is a multi-headed venomous snake that lives in the Yamuna River . He spits venom into the river, and animals and humans will be poisoned to death if they approach the river water.
In order to return the river to the people who depended on the river for all living things, Krishna surrendered the poisonous snake Kaliya and naturalized him into a snake god who could protect believers from poisonous snakes.
There is also a female snake goddess in Hinduism, Menesa. She is the sister of the snake king Vasuji. She has a considerable number of loyal believers in North and East India. Menesa's believers believe that Menesa is the daughter of Shiva. The female snake king. When someone was bitten by a snake, they would pray to Menesa for healing.
In addition, in terms of the characteristics of snakes themselves, Hindus believe that snakes, especially cobras, are the animals that can best remain calm and pure in nature.
Snakes will not actively harm humans or animals unless they are in danger.
Furthermore, they believe that cobras are loyal disciples of gods, and they can dedicate themselves to supporting and helping Hindu gods.
Just like in order to save Shiva from eating poison, the snake king Vasuji wrapped around his neck; in order to support Vishnu in running the world, Adi Shesha was willing to become his footstool and bed. Likewise, snakes are also considered to be guardians and protectors of great gods and temples.
Hindus also believe that snakes are related to great gods, human karma, and reincarnation. Snakes participate in the creation and cyclical operation of the world.
From the Indian snake gods to the Buddhist Dragon King
Vasuki and other Hindu snake gods were later absorbed into Buddhism. They are the "Eight Dragon Kings" in Buddhism, and they are the protector and benevolent gods listed on the seat of the Lotus Sutra.
According to the first preface to the Lotus Sutra, there are eight dragon kings: Nanda Dragon King, Bananda Dragon King, Sakara Dragon King, Hexiuji Dragon King, Deshajia Dragon King, Anavadatta Dragon King, and Manas Dragon King. , Yuluo Dragon King, etc., each with hundreds of thousands of dependents.
Since the Buddhist dragon is actually a snake, why is the image of the Dragon King we see in Chinese Buddhist temples different from the Hindu snake god?
In Chinese myths and legends, "dragon" is a magical animal. It has many images and is a symbol of the Chinese nation and a symbol of the ancient royal family. The ancestors of the Chinese nation, Emperor Yan and Emperor Huang, are said to have a close relationship with dragons. It is recorded in "Yellow Emperor Long Xuanyuan's Dragon Picture Out of the River" ("Year of the Bamboo Secretary") that "Emperor Yan was born after his mother sensed the "dragon head" and turned into a red dragon after death."
Therefore, all Chinese people call themselves "dragons" Descendants of ".
After Buddhism was introduced to China, the "dragon and snake" in the Buddhist scriptures and the "dragon" worshiped by the Chinese people quickly merged and unified in image and belief.
This is why the dragon kings we see in Buddhist temples all have dragon horns and claws. Even their humanoid incarnations are dressed in typical Chinese style, but their names are very Western-style.
These countries also worship snakes
India is not the only country in the world that worships snakes. Italy, Mexico, Nepal, Cambodia and other countries all have the custom and culture of worshiping snakes. Even in the southern and southeastern regions of China, snakes are also worshiped. Worship customs.
Italian Serpent Festival: On the first Thursday of May every year, the Cocurro people living in Italy will hold the traditional Serpent Festival religious event. They use this unusual way to commemorate the saint in order to avoid danger. Snake bites and toothaches bring peace and blessings.
Nepal: April 5th in the Nepalese calendar every year is the Dragon God Festival in Nepal. This is a very important festival in Nepal, and the protagonist is naturally the snake. During the festival, people worship snakes, mainly cobras, and pour milk on cobra or naga statues.
Mexico: Various ethnic groups in Mexico generally believe in Quetzalcoatl . Quetzalcoatl is described as a feathered snake god who can bless the crops of believers.
Cambodia: Cambodians have always regarded snakes as mascots. There are statues of snakes at the entrances of many temples. People hope to be protected by its power.
China: Every year on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month, most parts of China celebrate the Chinese Valentine's Day. However, in Zhanghu Town, Nanping City, Fujian Province, on the southeast coast, they celebrate the Chinese Valentine's Day as the Snake Festival. On this day, locals celebrate the Chinese Valentine's Day. The python, which is revered as the snake king, and the snake god Liangong are paraded through the town to pray for the snake god to bless the harvest. In addition, folk artists perform folk art performances such as snake swallowing and snake dancing.
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