Page 4 - Jan-Mar 2019

Sacred Snakes

In Hinduism, snakes represent divinity, materiality, timelessness and the cycle
of life and death as they shed their skin and get reborn. In India, the king of the
serpents (Nagaraja) is worshipped. Their domain is in the underworld, which is
filled with gems and gold. This is called the Patalaloka or the Naga-loka.
s. bhagya sri Varna lakshmi, iX, Kakinada Public school, Kakinada; alveera ali, Vi b, sunway sr. sec. school,
rampur; Parth Misra, iV a, Jankidevi Public school, Jaipur

ViSHnu
Lord Vishnu’s snake is
called Shesha. He is
SHiVA the brother of Vasuki.
Sheshnaga is the
The snake around Lord symbol of the infinite
Shiva’s neck is said to be and is believed to
Vasuki. It symbolises two Illustration by: Sravishta Damre, X A, be the protector of
things – with this snake Shreyas Foundation, Ahmedabad Vishnu as it spreads its
around his neck, Shiva is many hoods over his head. It is also said that along
independent of time and with Vishnu, even Sheshnaga is reincarnated to assist
death, as its three rounds him, for instance as Lakshmana and Balram.
depict the past, present Tanisha gupta, Xi b, Model academy, Jammu; shreya rawat, Vii
and future. And the a, Pine hall school, Dehradun; shivam Kumar, Viii b, sri Prakash
subordination of even the Vidyaniketan Pendurth, Visakhapatnam
feared snake to the Lord Illustration by: Anjali Chhabra,
IX D, Army Public School,
shows him as the Lord of the Ambala Cantt.
animals (Pashupati)! KriSHnA
aadhya sinha, Vi D, Cambridge school, Noida Krishna defeated Kaliya Naga,
the dreaded, multi-hooded
snake that lived in the River
Yamuna and poisoned its
water with his venom. To
gAneSH save the people from the

For Lord Ganesh the snake is tied around his frightening Kaliya Naga, Illustration by: Mehak, VII B,
waist, or worn as a sacred thread symbolising Krishna played his flute and Vishva Bharti Public School,
Jagadhri, Yamuna Nagar
protection. danced on his hood. Kaliya
realised the greatness of Krishna, asked for forgiveness
It is also said that one day Lord Ganesh was and left the river quietly.
walking after eating a lot of sweets. His vehicle,
the rat, saw a snake and stopped abruptly out Diksha Kanwar, Vi, Dundlod Vidyapeeth, Jhunjhunu; rinky yadav,
siddhi sagar academy, lalitpur
of fear causing Ganesh to fall. Ganesh's stomach
burst open, which he tied up using that very
snake! FOLK gOddeSS
Kaundinya Kaipa, VIII A, Bharatiya Vidya Bhawan, Atmakuri Mansa Devi (background image) considered to
Rama Rao School, Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad; Inika gour Tirath,
V, Vasant Valley School, New delhi be Vasuki’s sister, is a Hindu folk Goddess of the
snakes worshipped for the prevention of snake
bites.
Prem Kr. sah, Vii, Dantin academy english high school, guwahati
Background illustration by: Tanishka , IX D, Siddharth International
School, Hisar

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20