Naga attendant holding a fly whisk
India, probably Goli, Guntur district, Andhra Pradesh
The semidivine celebrant here is an anthropomorphic depiction of a serpent deity (naga), identifiable by the cobra hoods rising above his head. He is attired in a princely manner, wearing enormous conical earplugs (compare to those displayed nearby). The assimilation of nagas into Buddhism is a recurring theme in early religious literature. Associated with water and its riches, nagas represent one of the most powerful of the nature spirits that controlled the spiritual landscape of pre-Buddhist India. It was thus essential for monks to subjugate the power of the nagas; to this end Buddhist rituals evolved to influence the coming of the rains.
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