Castes and Tribes of Southern India/Naga
Naga (cobra : Naia tripudians). — Nā, Nāga, Nāgasa, or Nāgēswara, occurs in the name of a sept or gōtra of various classes in Ganjam and Vizagapatam, e.g., Aiyarakulu, Bhondāri, Bhumia, Bottada, Dōmb, Gadaba, Konda Dora, Mēdara, Muka Dora, Nagarālu, Omanaito, Poroja, Rōna, and Sāmantiya. Members of the Nāgabonso sept of Odiya claim to be descendants of Nāgamuni, the serpent rishi. Nāga is further a gōtra or sept of Kurnis and Toreyas, of whom the latter, at their weddings, worship at 'ant' (Termites) hills, which are often the home of cobras. It is also a sub-division of Gāzula Kāpus and Koppala Velamas. Nāgavadam (cobra's hood) is the name of a sub-division of the Pallis, who wear an ornament, called nāgavadam, shaped like a cobra's head, in the dilated lobes of the ears. Among the Vīramushtis there is a sept named Nāga Mallika (Rhinacanthus communis), the roots of which shrub are believed to be an antidote to the bite of poisonous snakes. The flowers of Couroupita guianensis, which has been introduced as a garden tree in Southern India, are known as nāga linga pu, from the staminal portion of the flower which curves over the ovary being likened to a cobra's hood, and the ovary to a lingam.