page_title: Nāga
section_title: Sri Lanka
hierarchical_section_title: Nāga / Other traditions / Sri Lanka
caption_attribution_description: English: A granite nagaraja guardstone from Sri Lanka, dating to the Anuradhapura period (800 to 900 CE). Now on display at the Victoria and Albert Museum in West London (Museum number IS.8-1966).
context_page_description: In Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism, the Nāga or Nagi are divine, semi-divine deities, or a semi-divine race of half-human half-serpent beings that reside in the netherworld and can occasionally take human form. They are principally depicted in three forms: wholly human with snakes on the heads and necks, common serpents, or as half-human half-snake beings. A female naga is a "Nagi", "Nagin", or "Nagini". Nagaraja is seen as the king of nāgas and nāginis. They are common and hold cultural significance in the mythological traditions of many South Asian and Southeast Asian cultures.
context_section_description: The Naga people were believed to be an ancient tribe who once inhabited Sri Lanka. There are references to them in several ancient text such as Mahavamsa, Manimekalai and also in other Sanskrit and Pali literature. They are generally being represented as a class of superhumans taking the form of serpents who inhabit a subterranean world. Texts such as Manimekalai represent them as persons in human form.
caption: A granite nagaraja guardstone from Sri Lanka
exif: {"Image Make": "Panasonic", "Image Model": "DMC-TZ60", "Image XResolution": "180", "Image YResolution": "180", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "paint.net 4.0.19", "Image DateTime": "2017:10:20 13:55:19", "Image Artist": "", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image ExifOffset": "268", "GPS GPSVersionID": "[2, 3, 0, 0]", "GPS GPSLatitudeRef": "N", "GPS GPSLatitude": "[16777215, 16777215, 3355443/20]", "GPS GPSLongitudeRef": "E", "GPS GPSLongitude": "[16777215, 16777215, 3355443/20]", "GPS GPSTimeStamp": "[0, 0, 0]", "GPS GPSStatus": "V", "GPS GPSMeasureMode": "2", "GPS GPSDOP": "0", "GPS GPSMapDatum": "WGS-84", "GPS GPSProcessingMethod": "[71, 0, 80, 0, 83, 0, 0, 0]", "GPS GPSAreaInformation": "[0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, ... ]", "GPS GPSDate": "0000:00:00", "Image GPSInfo": "12704", "Image SensitivityType": "Standard Output Sensitivity", "Image PrintIM": "[80, 114, 105, 110, 116, 73, 77, 0, 48, 50, 53, 48, 0, 0, 14, 0, 1, 0, 22, 0, ... ]", "Image Tag 0xC6D2": "[0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, ... ]", "Image Tag 0xC6D3": "[0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, ... ]", "Thumbnail Orientation": "Rotated 90 CW", "Thumbnail XResolution": "180", "Thumbnail YResolution": "180", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/50", "EXIF FNumber": "33/10", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "400", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0230", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2017:10:20 13:55:19", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2017:10:20 13:55:19", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "4", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "441/128", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "43/10", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "4896", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "2752", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "12662", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "0", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "27", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF GainControl": "High gain up", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal", "EXIF OffsetSchema": "0"}