Snakes

"...the worship of snakes is not limited to cultivators, but occurs among Hindus of all castes and sects, among the literate and well educated as well as the illiterate."

"Cobras reverenced throughout India and their worship takes different forms in different parts of the country."

"The [next] important festival which is an All India occurrence is Nag Panchami. The name of the festival implies that it is a day which is dedicated to the worship of snakes (Nag) and the worship is to be on the fifth day (Panchami) in the bright fortnight of Sravana (August-September)"

"Nag Panchami celebrations may be regarded as fertility rite."

"There exists a wide spread belief that the same animal (cobra) has power to impart fecundity and remove barrenness."

"In Kerala it is common to find in the houses of the high-caste Hindus a shrine for cobras in the south western corner of the large compound round the ancestral house. [So also in Coorg, every Okka has a nata which is a platform where unhewn stones representing cobra – deities are deified."

"The thousand headed Sheshnag or Anant is the most powerful of them and revered even by the gods. He bears the whole earth on his hood like a chaplet on his crown. When he nods or yawns, the earth, with its oceans and mountains, begin to tremble."

"The snake deities are also regarded as the guardians of treasures on land and sea."

"The scriptures treat snakes as a community as there is a mention of nag lok."

"But most significantly worship of snakes gets prominence in modern astrology because they are considered as rahu and ketu. The head of a snake is rahu and the tail ketu. If all other planets are caught between the head and the tail in a horoscope then it is termed as kaal sarp yog."