Nagas are divine or semi-divine gods and live in the Patala (the netherworld). This is a race of semi-divine deities that are half-serpent and half-human being in appearance and take the form of humans, occasionally. Some Nagas have magical powers to transform themselves and appear as human.
Principally they are presented in 3 different forms including half-snake and half human, as common serpents or fully human with serpents on their necks and heads.
The ‘Nagin’, ‘Nagi’ or ‘Nagini’ is the female Naga. The king of Naginis and Nagas, is the Nagaraja. In many of the Southeast Asian and South Asian cultures, Nagas are common. They have strong significance in various cultures in mythological traditions.
Naga means the Indian cobra or the cobra in Sanskrit. Generically the word naga means ‘snake’. Nagas are described as proud semi-divine, powerful, wonderful and splendid race that can attain physical form as a full serpent or a partial serpent human. Nagas are frequently associated with water bodies like seas, rivers and are considered as guardians of treasures.
A protagonist’s role has been played by the Nagas, as the churning rope in the Churning of the Ocean of Milk, thus making them beneficial in the Samudra Manthan mythology. The Nagaraja, Vasuki lives on the neck of Lord Shiva which became the churning rope in the Samudra Manthan. The serpent is seen in many forms in Ganesha iconography as a belt, or a sacred thread around the neck of Lord Ganesha, as a throne, coiled around the ankles or stomach.
