Manasa

Manasa (Sanskrit: मनसा, romanized: Manasā) is a Hindu goddess of snakes. She is worshipped mainly in Bihar, Odisha, Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan, Assam and other parts of northeastern India, chiefly for the prevention and cure of snakebite, and also for fertility and prosperity. In Hindu texts, Manasa is the daughter of sage Kashyapa, sister of Vasuki—king of Nāgas (serpents)—and wife of sage Jaratkaru. She is the mother of the sage Astika. In regional tradition, her stories emphasise her bad temper and unhappiness, due to rejection by her father, Shiva, and her husband (Jaratkaru), and the hate of her stepmother Chandi (Shiva's wife, identified with Parvati in this context). Manasa is depicted as kind to her devotees, but harsh toward people who refuse to worship her. Denied full godhood due to her mixed parentage, Manasa's aim was to fully establish her authority as a goddess, and to acquire steadfast human devotees.