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The Practice of Traditional Rituals in Naga Aradhana (Snake

worship): A Case study on Aadimoolam Vetticode Sree
Nagarajaswami Temple in Kerala, India

Article  in  SHS Web of Conferences · January 2017

DOI: 10.1051/shsconf/20173300025

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SHS Web of Conferences 33 , 00025 (2017) DOI: 10.1051/ shsconf/20173300025
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The Practice of Traditional Rituals in Naga

Aradhana (Snake worship): A Case study on
Aadimoolam Vetticode Sree Nagarajaswami
Temple in Kerala, India
Dinu Das1, and Arumugam Balasubramanian2,*
1,2
Department of Communication, Coimbatore, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham University, Tamil
Nadu, India

Abstract. Snakes are worshiped in different parts of the world based on

the culture and traditions. Snake worship is a part of Hindu religion and
plays an important role in cultural as well as in ritual aspect in India. This
study explores the ritual practices in Naga aradhana in the Indian state
Kerala, by taking Aadimoolam Vetticode Sree Nagarajaswami temple as a
case study. This paper aims to understand the importance of Naga
aaradhana and the practice of rituals related to Naga Dosha (curse of
snakes), like Kalamezhuthu, Pulluvanpaatu, Sarpamthulal , Sarpabali, the
annual festival Ayilyam Mahotsavam and the importance of Sarpakaavu
(sacred groove) in the temple. This research is conducted using the
methodology of personal interviews and video analysis. This study
concludes that the Sarpakavu has a unique meaning and believers from
different caste and religion have respect and admiration for this divinity.

1 Introduction
Snakes are animals that fascinate many people while frightening others. Good or bad, most
people have strong feelings about snakes, but few people remain neutral [11]. The rituals
devoted to the propitiation and supplication of the sarpa, as the common snake is called in
Sanskrit, as well as the snake’s supernatural counterpart the Naga are present in the Indian
sub-continent for more than two millennia [9].Worship of the Snake Gods (Naga) has taken
a prominent place in various forms of literature, traditional paintings, art, sculpture,
folklore, architecture and so on. The ancient civilizations throughout the world treated
Naga’s as a part of society. The snake therefore can be seen in old traditional cultures
where snakes are the entities of strength and renewal. There are different kinds of festivals
associated with Naga/snake throughout India. In northern India king of snakes, Nagaraja is
worshiped whereas in southern India; the snakes are worshiped as whole.
Snakes are considered as demigod in the southern India, especially in Kerala. People in
Hindu religion worship Snakes in temples and in their natural habitats. The devotees offer
snake god with milk, incense, and prayers. In Hindu rituals and spiritual tradition, the

*
Corresponding author: [email protected]

© The Authors, published by EDP Sciences. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the
Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
SHS Web of Conferences 33 , 00025 (2017) DOI: 10.1051/ shsconf/20173300025
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snakes represent divinity, eternity, materiality, life and death, and time as well as
timelessness. It symbolizes the three processes of creation, namely creation, preservation
and destruction [8]. Throughout Kerala there are temples devoted to snake worship. The
major temples are Mannarsala, Vettikode, Pambumekkatu mana, Pulikal Shankaramadam,
Pambady Nagaraja Temple, Kumaranalloor Nagaraja Temple and Madanmarukavu
Nagaraja temple in Alanadu. The presence of these temples and the number of devotees
visiting these temples point to the deep rooted spiritual beliefs and religious values related
to snake worship. This religious tradition in Kerala is directly connected to the ancient
mythology and literature of Hinduism in India.
The ancient literature and the epics like Mahabharata and Ramayana give ample
documents on the Nagas. The characterization of Naga in art is common during the
historical period. It is hard to track down when and how Naga aradhana began in Kerala.
Mythology through Keralolpathi, a history of Kerala points to the period when Brahmins
settled in Kerala after the lord Parasurama. On the request of Brahmins, Parasurama allotted
a different residential area for the Nagas to eliminate troubles they might cause to human
beings [2], [3]. In Hindu mythology Nagas play a prominent role, through various legends.
Shesha also called as Aadi shesha or Ananda is the snake on whom lord Vishnu does his
Yoga nidra (sleep), otherwise called as Ananda shayana. The snake Vasuki is considered to
be the king of Nagas, who allowed demons and gods to use her body as a rope to bring out
the elixir for saving people. The Lord Shiva, the god of gods wears a snake around his
neck. It is believed that Shiva has given an important place for Nagas.
Several researchers have conducted studies on Snake and snake worship in India and
also in other countries. A researcher pointed out that the Snakes, Goddesses, and Women’s
Ritual Responses in Contemporary South India have a focus on the rituals in an Amman
temple of Tamil Nadu [1]. Ethnographic study conducted on snake (naga) worship and
traditions associated with naga doṣam (snake blemish) are also an important aspect in the
study. It studies the astrological flaw related to delay in marriage, skin diseases, infertility
in women and children born with low intelligence and autism.
In India, there are families who worship the Naga as their family god and have
monument around their home and sometimes even inside their home. The families devoted
to Naga worship thus follow rituals to please the snake God. A researcher pointed out how
snake worship and protection of the environment correlates to one another and also about
different varieties of snakes present in Kerala [4].

2 Aadimoolam vetticode sree nagarajaswami temple

Aadimoolam Vetticode Sree Nagarajaswami Temple is located near Kayamkulam in
Alappuzha district of Kerala. Hindu mythology says that, Sree Nagaraja Swami Temple
was consecrated by Lord Parasurama. The temple was built as a gratitude to Anantha, the
snake god, who asked to suck out the unwanted elements in Kerala to turn it into a fertile
land for the residents. The temple is located on a six-acre land with a Sarppakavu (sacred
groove) which has Nagaraja and Nagayakshi as principal deities. The temple has Sri
Parameswaran Nampoothiris as the Karanavar (chief), who has devoted his life to Naga
Aaradhana. The temple, devoted to snake worship, practices certain rituals and traditions.
The major reason for practicing these rituals is Naga Dosha or curse of snake. Naga dosha
is caused when a person knowingly or unknowingly hurts a snake or destroys the place
where they reside. The personal interview with the philosopher Madhav Sreekumar and
Astrologer Joseph Nedumkandam related to a general concept that Naga dosha means anger
of God. For getting rid of Naga dosha people practice various pooja or offerings in the
Temple. The major rituals are Sarpabali, Sarpamthulal along with Kalamezhuthu and
Pulluvanpaatu. Sarpabali is conducted using a sketch or Kalam drawn for Naga Raja (snake

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god) on the day of Aayilyam ( a zodiac sign according to Malayalam calendar) and the
priest performs various offerings along with religious chants. Sarpamthulal is a long
procedure and happens near the sacred groove inside the temple compound. In this ritual a
sketch is drawn on the ground based on the need of pooja. Pulluvanpaatu, the hymns by a
tribe devoted to Nagas, sing songs to please and invite Naga god into the sketch. It is said
that the Pulluvanpaatu reaches the heaven where the Naga Gods reside. Young virgin girls
receive the soul of Naga god during the procedure and talks to people and try to redeem
them from curse of snake. Later these people clear the sketch and conclude the pooja.
The temple also offers various other rituals to cure minor Naga dosha based on astrological
calculations, it includes Ashta Naga pooja, Dhara, Aadiya Enna, Uruli Kamezhuthu and
Rahur Dasha shanti. Ashta Naga pooja, is to please the eight major snake gods. Dhara is an
offering for both Nagaraja (the king of snake God/ anantha) and Nagayakshi (the queen of
snake god) using an abhisheka jala (sacred water). Aadiya enna is an offering where
devotees give bath to the snake deities using gingely oil, mainly to cure skin disease. Uruli
Kamezhuthu is carried out by married couple who are childless. In this they keep a round
vessel called Uruli in reverse position in front of Nagaraja. The rahur dasha shanti is for
clearing the Naga dosha in the astrological calendar.

The following are the objectives of this study:

• To understand the significance of Naga (snake worship) culture and rituals.
• Study of Sarppakkavu or Sacred groves for Snakes with relation to the Naga aradhana
and Snake song, Pulluvanpattu.

3 Methodology
To study the practice of traditional rituals in Naga aradhana, the qualitative method has
been considered where personal interviews along with visual documentation are the tools
taken for collecting data. For the personal interview, priests, astrologers, anthropologists
and believers belonging to different caste and religion were selected. The process of data
collection was spread over three months. During the in-depth interview, the researchers
encouraged the participants to describe their belief, experience and what they found
exciting about the traditional rituals in Naga aradhana. All the in-depth interviews were
conducted one-on-one and visually documented. Visuals were viewed and the important
segments to the interview questions were transcribed.

4 Analysis & interpretation

Every religion has rituals and it varies according to the traditional and cultural beliefs. The
Naga worship in Aadimoolam Vetticode Sree Nagarajaswami temple is a proof for the
existence of primitive culture of snake worship in Kerala. The legend of Parasurama and
the oral culture transferred through the Karanavar (chief) of the temple, points to the fact
that this temple is the first temple built for snake worship by Lord Parasurama. There is also
a legend stating that Lord Parasurama himself created the idol of snake god, Anantha out of
a rock using his axe. This temple is maintained by the traditional family called Meppallil
Illam. The Chief of temple, Parameswaran Nampoothiri is the head of that family.
According to the astrologer Joseph Nedumkandam, Naga is considered to be the
manifestation of nature and psychological quality of intelligence in Hinduism. Therefore
Naga Aaradhana or snake worship is worshiping the nature and also the intelligence. The
head priest of Nagarajaswami Temple said that, in India people worship Nagas because of
the fear that they are capable to bless and curse.

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4.1 Naga dosha

The curse of Naga is called as Naga dosham. Naga dosham in general according to
astrologer Joseph is the anger of snake god. The head priest defined the reason for Naga
dosham as harming Nagas or any sacred object related to snake worship. Another aspect of
sarpadosha according to astrologer Joseph is associated to the harms against the earth, like
digging or cutting of trees and plants. This is associated to another myth related to
Adisesha, personification of force which keeps earth stable along the path way of sun. The
Naga dosham causes health problems like white patches on skin, belated marriage and
pregnancy, eye disease, handicapped or disabled birth, unnecessary dispute and quarrel
among family members and other incurable diseases. The temple offers various rituals
(poojas) as a solution to get rid of Naga dosham.

4.2 Sarpabali
Sarpabali is the ritual of worshiping Lord Nagaraja or Anantha on Ashlesha Nakshatra ( an
Indian Zodiac star) otherwise called as Ayyilyamstar. Sarpabali is performed to appease
Ashta Nagas and to fend off evil effects of Sarpa dosha (curse of snake). As part of
Sarpabali, a colorful sketch of Padma (Lotus) is drawn on the ground of the temple. In the
middle portion there is Ashtadala (eight petals) and its outward triangle represents nature
and Man. The upward and downward triangles of ashtadala indicate the close association
between nature (prakrithi) and man (Purusha). The extreme outer part of the sketch has
Sarpakettu. This again is in a lotus shape. The padma(lotus) for the sarpabali can be seen
only from that point. The priest offers prayers and sacrifices (bali) to please naga through
various mantras and chants near this sketch for the people having Naga dosha. The people
who witness this holy performance will redeem themselves from the anger of Nagas.

4.3 Ashta Naga pooja

The ashta naga pooja is a special ritual performed for ashta Nagas (eight snakes). The main
eight snakes are Anantha, Gulika, Vasuki, Shankapala, Thakshaka, Mahapadma, Padma
and Karakodaka. The pooja offers Noorum Paalum through Thelichukuda ritual to each
snake deity separately. The Noorum paalum includes ingredients like, tender coconut, fresh
milk of cow, rose water, turmeric and the seeds of tender coconut (pookula). The juice of
these ingriedients together is called as Noorum Paalum.

4.4 Rahur dasha Shanti

The poojas or rituals related to Sarpa dosha changes according to the astrological aspects of
a human and the severity of the anger of snake god. The other poojas (rituals) related to
Naga dosha includes Rahur dasha Shanti. The ritual concentrates on offerings to get rid of
all diseases and ailments due to the presence of Nagas in Rahu dasha (considered to be the
worst time according to the Hindu astrological calendar).

4.5 Dhara
The ritual Dhara, (pouring sacred water on the devotees) is another ritual for Sarpa dosha.
The ritual’s main element is Abhisjeka Jala (the sacred water). It is a special offering to the
main deities, Nagaraja and Nagayakshi. The Abhisheka Jala or dhara is made out of tender
coconut water, milk and plain water. This water is poured on people with Naga dosha.

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4.6 Uruli Kamizhthu

The ritual is conducted for people without children due to the anger of snake gods. The
couples with faith purity in mind will undertake this ritual. The ritual starts with
Pradikshana(circling the main temple of snake God Anantha) and Namajapa (chants) with
Panchavadyamelam (music created using five temple musical instruments). The couples
carry a Uruli (wok) covered with red coloured silk cloth in front of the idol of Nagayakshi
(diety). They later come to the idol of Nagaraja for the act of Uruli Kamzhithu (turning the
wok upside down). The nivedya (banana and milk) is offered to both the deities for their
blessing. After the birth of child, the couple need to come back and perform Uruli Nivarthu
(turning the wok upwards) with the child.

4.7 Aadiya enna

Aadiya enna (bath to deities using gingely oil) is another ritual for people suffering from
skin disease. The deity Nagaraja is given a bath using gingelly oil on Brahma Muhurtha
(auspicious time) to get rid of skin disease caused by Sarpakopam (anger of snake god).

4.8 Sarpamthulal
Sarpamthulal is prerformed in this temple during the day of Ayilyam star in Malayalam
calander. The ancient legend of Nagas in Kerala according to the astrologer Padmanabhan
Sharma narrates that Nagas who were the masters of forests left their home and moved to a
narrow area (sacred grooves) for the peaceful life of humans. Thus once in a while based on
the astrological calendar, the snake devotees perform Sarpamthulal to reveal the gratitude
towards snake gods and also to seek their blessings. The Sarpamthulal includes rituals like
Kalamazhuthu and Pulluvan paatu. In the temple they perform Sarpamthulal for the Ashta
Nagas. The sarpapattu is a spiritual dance performance done by the devotees who get
incarnated with the soul of eight snake gods during the holy ceremony. The Sarpamthulal is
performed nearby sacred groove (Sarpakaavu) inside the temple compound.
The ceremony starts with Kalamezhuthu. Kalams are the combination of two
dimensional and three dimensional designs drawn on the floor using fine powder extracted
from nature [13]. The colours extracted from fruits are used to draw sketches related to
snakes. Through these sketches, snakes are invited into the pooja (sacred ritual) through
various chants and prayers. The sketches of snake vary from the need for Pooja. In the
temple we can see the sketch related to Ashta Naga. For the ashta naga sketch, they used
five natural colours. They are white (rice flour), red (dry saffron’s powder),
yellow(turmeric powder), green( the powder of leaves) and black (the powder from burned
rice barks). The colours are added to the sketch drawn out of white powder (rice flour). The
drawing is done using hands and the art of shading, especially the background which gives
a velvet touch. Combinations and permutations are used for foregrounding or to create
illusions. The later addition is the influence of oil lamps around the Kalam where rituals are
known as thiri uzhichil, a form of worship [13]. The Ashta naga sketches include the
sketches of Nagaraja ( snake god), Nagayakshi, Anjanamani Nagam, Mani Nagam, Para
Nagam and Kari Nagam. After finishing the sketch the Pulluvans start their hymns and
invite the tridevs in Hinduism, that is Lord Brahma,Lord Vishnu and Lord Shiva.
Later the pulluvans start singing hymns for deities including snake gods and other
deities to invite the snake gods. The songs illustrate the myth behind the Naga accompanied
with unique instrument called Pulluva Veena .A virgin girl waits with a Pookula in her
hand to receive the soul of Snake god in her body. After a while the virgin receives the soul
and starts the spiritual dance called as Sarpamthulal. The energy passed on to the girl

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through the soul makes the virgin to appear supernatural and powerful. The virgin later
blesses the devotees and redeem the people from the curse of snakes. Last stage is called
Kalam Mayickal. In this stage the virgin erases the sketch drawn on the floor and the pooja
gets completed.

4.9 Pulluvan Pattu

The Pulluvan Patti is the praising hymns sang by Pulluvans. Pulluvans are people dedicated
to sing hymns and songs for snake gods in Kerala. Vinayakan Nampoothiri said that
Pulluvans Paatu reaches the eternal world of snakes. These people are the predecessors in
snake worshipers in Kerala. Pulluvans travel from house to house and sing hymns for naga
during the Malayalam month of Kanni and Makaram to cure Naga Dosha [14]. They sing
hymns for the Lord Anantha and all other Nagas along with the assistance of musical
instruments including Veena and Kudam (Pot). The one stringed violin known as the
Pulluvan veena, the Pulluvan kudam, an earthen pot with a string fastened to it, Pulluvan
mizhavu and cymbals. Out of these, the Pulluvan veena plays a major part during the
rituals. The music produced with the combination of this hymns and musical instruments of
the Pulluva community praise ‘holy serpents’ such as Ananthan, Manimudgaran, Adiseshan
and Mahapadman. The pulluvan Paatu is a major element and is one of the major worship
practices of Naga called Sarpamthulal.

4.10 Ayiliya Mahotsavam

Another important aspect of this temple is the annual Ayiliya Mahotsavam festival. The
festival is performed on the Ayiliyam day of Malayalam month Kanni. The celebrations
start seven days prior to the Ayiliyam day. There are various rituals and traditions
associated with the festival, which will be carried out during these days. This is performed
to increase the power of deity and to shower blessings on the devotees. The Nadabhrama
with instruments like Kombu and Kuzhal (wind instruments) and Nadaswara instruments
like Maddallam, Chenda, Edakka and the Thakil will be played to please the deities. This is
followed by Sarpabali and Ezhunnalathu (procession). The procession starts from temple to
Meppalil Illam then back to temple after certain poojas in the Illam. The significance of
procession is that it distributes and spreads blessing across the way to thousands of
devotees witnessing it. Later a sarpabali will be conducted in the temple for the devotees
with sarpa dosha or sarpa kopam. The temple remains closed till Brahma Muhoortha and
after that Shudhi Kriyas (Purification rituals) the festival is concluded with the Dhaara
(pouring sacred water on deities).

4.11 Sacred grooves/Sarpakaavu

Kavu in Malayalam vernacular language means a garden or a group of trees. The sacred
groves which are dedicated to the snake deities are called Sarpa kavu. Sacred grooves are
maintained nearby temples and also in the families of Naga devotees. In the sacred grooves,
Chithrakoodu kallu ( a specially designed stone) is the ideal of Naga God. The Sarpa Pooja
or offerings for Naga god will be conducted on the day of Aayilyam Star according to
malyalam calendar. Naga devotees carry out the traditional Ayiliyam diet and conduct the
pooja to please Naga gods [14]. Sarpa kaavu according to the priest Rajan namboothiri
maintains the ecological balance. The predecessors cut down the forest for agriculture and
therefore attacke the ecosystem as a whole. So they preserved a part of land allotted for
Naga gods to maintain the environmental balance and also for the Snake gods. The sacred

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grooves are blessed with a wide variety of trees and medicinal plants. It is also said to be a
major source for underground water

5 Conclusion
In India people worship. Naga is considered to be the manifestation of nature and
psychological quality intelligence in Hinduism. Offerings in this temple are given only once
in a year in the Malayalam month of Thulam. The Sarpakavu has a unique meaning and
believers from different caste and religion have respect and admiration for this divinity.

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