Object 22: Manasa Ghata
Object Number: VRM4889
Dimensions: 29.0 x 25.0 cm
Material: Ceramic
Find Location: Sitlai, Rajshahi District, Bangladesh
Date: 1944 CE
Many communities respect local traditions in addition to belonging to major religions. Snake veneration has a long history in South Asia, with depictions found within both Buddhist and Hindu iconography, and the serpent goddess Manasa is one of the most revered within the Bengal Basin.
Popular in rural areas, where interactions between people and snakes are common, Manasa offers protection from snake bites as well as bringing health and prosperity. She is often provided a permanent shrine, built of mud or brick and covered with a roof, in places associated with snakes, such as forested areas. The deity is most often represented by a ghata or a clay vessel. Such representations on pots also have a great antiquity as demonstrated by those excavated at the Maniya Matha in Rajgir, India.
Pot with spouts of different shapes found during excavations at Maniya Matha, Rajgir, India, the remains of the temple dedicated to the serpent deity Naga. Courtesy of Durham University’s Sir John Marshall Photographic Collection (DUROM.1957.1.3494).
Pot with spouts of different shapes found during excavations at Maniya Matha, Rajgir, India, the remains of the temple dedicated to the serpent deity Naga. Courtesy of Durham University’s Sir John Marshall Photographic Collection (DUROM.1957.1.3494).
This Manasa Ghata has four hooded cobras reaching up to its rim. The goddess is also represented by the lotus flower on the rim as she is said to have been born on a lotus leaf in a pond. This link with water is a common theme in snake worship in South Asia as snakes are identified as custodians of rivers and lakes. Safeguarding the purity of these water sources, they also ensure that monsoon rains arrive to replenish them.
Manasa Ghata (VRM4889).
Manasa Ghata (VRM4889).
Built with Shorthand