Manasa is called the Hindu Serpentine Deity or the Hindu Goddess of Snakes. She is also called the King of Nagas (Snakes), the mother of all Nagas or Nagalakshmi. Manasa is known as Padmavati, Nitya (eternal) and Vishahara (the one who destroys poison).
She is worshipped mainly for cure and prevention of snake bites, for prosperity, fertility, cure and prevention of snake bites in many parts of north eastern India and in Bengal. She is the daughter of Shiva, Vasuki’s sister and the mother of Astika and Sage Jaratkaru’s wife. Few scriptures state that she is the daughter of Sage Kashyapa and not Shiva.
If people do not worship her, she is harsh to them but is kind to her devotees. Her parentage is mixed due to which full godhead is denied to her.
She aimed at attaining committed human devotees and gets her authority fully established. Appearance of her name is seen first in the Atharvaveda. This deity was identified as the goddess of marriage rites and the goddess of fertility, by the 14th century after which she was related to Shiva and assimilated into the Shaiva pantheon. According to myths, she was Shiva’s saviour after he consumed poison. She was worshipped as ‘remover of poison’ and glorified.
Manasa is depicted as standing upon a snake, sitting on a lotus with snakes covering her body. A canopy of seven cobras with their hoods, shelter her. In some cases she holds a child (Astika) on her lap. In north eastern India, the Hajong tribe calls her the ‘one eyed goddess’ and also is called ‘the Blind Goddess’. She is worshipped ceremonially on Nag Panchami Day.
