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Course: Asian Art Museum > Unit 2
Lesson 2: Lesson 2: Ancient IndiaSerpent King (nagaraja)
Nagas—supernatural serpents—appear often in Indian mythology. They can take on partial or complete human form, as in this sculpture of a naga king. The man and the seven-headed serpent here are understood to be two forms of the same being. Nagas are associated with fertility and the life-giving powers of water in the world’s rivers, lakes, and oceans. They are usually benevolent and even protective, not evil or threatening as in the mythology of many other parts of the world.
Nagas—supernatural serpents—appear often in Indian mythology. They can take on partial or complete human form, as in this sculpture of a naga king. The man and the seven-headed serpent here are understood to be two forms of the same being. Nagas are associated with fertility and the life-giving powers of water in the world’s rivers, lakes, and oceans. They are usually benevolent and even protective, not evil or threatening as in the mythology of many other parts of the world.
The Inscription
On the base of the image an inscription says that it was made in 207, during the reign of the Kushan king Vasudeva. It reads:
In the regnal year eighty, 80, of the Great King, the King over Kings, the son of the Gods, the Shahi Vasudeva, in the second month of the rainy season, 2, at the third day, at this date this image of the venerable Nakra was installed as the gift of the general Trivahana ? of the sons of the Account Keeper of the Treasury, Sulakshaka. Yallarah [?]. May the Lord Nagaraja be pleased. (Translated by Prof. Harry Falk.)