WRITTEN by London Swaminathan
Date: 2 April 2018
Time uploaded in London – 13-34 (British Summer Time)
Post No. 4874
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Worshipping snakes is a very common sight in India. From Kashmir to Kanyakumari we have thousands of towns and villages named after the snakes. Sanskrit words Naga and Sarpa gave birth to English words such as S +naga (snake) and Serpent (serpent). Thousands of snake (Naga) statues are worshipped in almost all famous temples in South India. Kashmir’s History book Nilamata purana and Kalahana’s Raja Tarangini give lot of stories about Naga Kings. Naga Panchami and Varuna Panchami, celebrating the snakes, are followed by devoted Hindus even today. Nilamata Purana CONTAINS AN EXTENSIVE LIST OF THE NAGAS. IT GIVES THE NAMES OF 527 NAGAS. It surpasses in length of all lists from Sanskrit literature.
Abul- Fazl, Prime Minister of Moghul Emperor Akbar, had collected interesting notes from Kashmir snake worship. He also mentioned the miraculous powers of Nagas.
Naga rani (snake queen) Naga worship were found in the Vedas and Indus valley (Please read my previous article)
Snake worship in Greece
In Greece serpent became the guardian of the city and healing god. Similar to Hindu myths of Krishna subduing Serpent Kaliya, Greeks have Apollo destroying dragon Python. Cadmus fought and killed the dragon that devoured his men.
Though Hercules is said to be the destroyer of serpents, he was the progenitor of snake race through Echidna.
Like Hindus feeding snakes living in ant hills, Greeks fed the snakes in the caves of Delphi and Trophonius. The serpents figure in Greek mythology as the representative of gods, or as delivering oracles, or guarding sacred places.
The great centre of Serpent worship was Epidaurus where the serpents were kept and fed until the time of Pausanias (second century CE).
Plutarch tells us that Olympias, mother of Alexander, kept tame snakes in her house. Philip and Lucian believed that Alexander was born of a serpent.
Tiberius imported Snakes from India!
Lanuvium, 16 miles from Rome, had a large and dark grove, where there was a temple of Argive Juno. Aelian tells us that virgins of Latium were taken in to the cave annually to ascertain their chastity, which was indicated by the dragon. If the serpent accepted their offering, not only was their purity confirmed but also a fertile harvest was assured.
Two snakes sent by Minerva to destroy Laocoon for his attempt to undeceive the fated Trojans. Two serpents were painted on the walls to indicate the palace was sacred.
Roman Scipio Africanus believed that he was nursed by a snake.
Emperor Tiberius kept a tame serpent for his amusement but one morning when he found it was eaten by ants, he procured a large serpent from India and placed it in the temple of Jupiter Olympias at Athens.
My old articles on Nagas:–
Serpent Queen:Indus Valley to Sabarimalai | Tamil and Vedas
https://tamilandvedas.com/2012/06/17/serpent-queenindus-valley-to-sabarimalai/
17 Jun 2012 – British archaeologist Arthur Evans excavated at the palace of Knossos in Crete and revealed to the world the fascinating details of a new civilization that existed between 2700 BC and 1500 BC coinciding with theIndus Valley Civilization. The famous serpent queen figure is of a priestess holding two snakes …
Nagas from Meera Rai Post
Snakes and Snake Bites in Mahabharata! | Swami’s Indology Blog
swamiindology.blogspot.com/2015/03/snakes-and-snake-bites-in-mahabharata.html
10 Mar 2015 – The stories in Hindu scriptures are real life stories. They are not concocted. The best examples are stories of snake bites. From the story of Parikshit to down south Tamil stories of Periya Purana and Tiruvilaiyadal Purana, we hear about several deaths due to snake bites. In some stories gods or saints came ..
included the Olmec, the Mixtec, the Toltec, the Aztec, and the Maya.
snake miracle | Tamil and Vedas
https://tamilandvedas.com/tag/snake-miracle/
(for old articles go to tamilandvedas.com ORswamiindology.blogspot.com). sesha … Though there is no religion or culture without a snake in it, Hindus are the only community who worship snakes from the Vedic days until today. There are millions of … All the Hindu gods are linked with a snake in one way or another. All the .
Are Mayas, Indian Nagas? | Tamil and Vedas
https://tamilandvedas.com/2012/04/28/are-mayas-indian-nagas/
28 Apr 2012 – Maya calendar begins on 11th August 3114 BC. Indiancalendar Kaliyuga begins in 3102 BC. But Hindu mythology is very clear about their existence long before Kali yuga. Kaliyuga is the last of the four yugas. But Mayas are silent about their existence before this date 3114 BC. The amazing co incidence …
Amazing Similarities between Mayas and Hindu Nagas | Tamil and …
https://tamilandvedas.com/…/amazing-similarities-between-mayas-and-hindu-nagas/
28 Apr 2012 – Amazing Similarities between Mayas and Hindu NagasAmazing Similarities between Mayas and Hindu Nagas ( The first part of this article is Are Mayas, Indian Nagas?) 1. Strange co incidence: Kali Yuga 3102 BC and Maya Yuga beginning 3114 BC 2. Maya appearance:Maya people of Central America …
https://tamilandvedas.com/tag/naga-yakshi/
We have Nagapanchami celebrations celebrated throughout India where live snakes are worshipped. Hindus respect Nature and Environment and use the natural resorces to the minimum. Snake Goddesses such as Manasa Devi and Naga Yakshi are worshipped in India. The Vedas has an authoress named as Serpent …
https://tamilandvedas.com/tag/gondwana/
They celebrate Hindu festivals such as Dasara and Naga Panchami. Like any other village community they have their own stories for everything. They are well versed in arts and building. They have divided themselves into four different castes lie the four divisions of work in ancient Hindu society. They form the biggest tribe …
–subham–
Tamil and Vedas 