Manasa

Manasa is the goddess of snakes and protector against snakebite, worshipped in the folk and Shakta traditions of eastern India. She is shown seated on a lotus or a snake, crowned with a hood of serpents, sometimes holding a child. She is worshipped in Bengal, Assam and Odisha, often at roadside and village shrines, with offerings of milk. The main observance is Nag Panchami in Shravana, when snake images are worshipped and live snakes are never harmed.

According to the Brahma Vaivarta Purana and other texts, Manasa was born from the mind of Kashyapa, the sage, and was raised in the world of the nagas. Her name is taken to mean born of the mind. In some tellings she is the daughter of Shiva, and in others she is the sister of the serpent king...