Serpent-kings in Hindu mythology
Nagaraja |
---|
8th-century Nagaraja carving, Alampur, Telangana |
Devanagari | नागराज |
---|
Sanskrit transliteration | Nāgarāja |
---|
Wylie transliteration | Klu'i rgyal po |
---|
Affiliation | Nāga |
---|
Abode | Patala |
---|
A Nagaraja (Sanskrit: नागराज nāgarāja, lit. 'king of the nagas') is a king of the various races of the nāga, the divine or semi-divine, half-human, half-serpent beings that reside in the netherworld (Patala), and can occasionally take human form.[1]
Rituals devoted to these supernatural beings have been taking place throughout South Asia for at least two thousand years.[2]