Manasa is the queen of Snakes and the daughter of Kadru the Serpent Mother.
She is a Nagini Goddess associated with fertility, granting wishes, protecting against snakes, healing infectious diseases, and generally providing wealth, abundance, and success.
Manasa is a jealous and temperamental goddess, known for craving worshippers. There are many long and strange stories about her.
Iconography of Manasa Devi:
Manasa Devi is always accompanied by serpents on Mukuta or in her arms. Her mount is Swan.
Manasa is depicted as a beautiful woman with a golden complexion (hence the nickname Gauri, Golden) and a smiling face. She wears red garments and gold jewellery. She has four arms, with her upper right hand holding a Shankh and her left hand holding her favourite flower, the lotus. Her lower left hand holds a snake and the right lower right hand displays Varadamudra. She is covered with snakes, sitting on a lotus platform or standing upon a snake. She is sheltered by the canopy of the hoods of seven cobras.
Sometimes, she is depicted with a child on her lap. The child is assumed to be her son, Astika. In Bengal, she is rarely seen with her husband, Jaratkaru. In some of her idols, she is shown with Behula and Lakshminder.
Mythology:
Veda / Puranas:
Manasa is the daughter of lord Shiva but was brought up by a sage…Manasa is the sister of Shesha and Vasuki, king of Nāgas (serpents), and wife of sage Jaratkaru. She is the mother of the sage Astika. She is also known as Vishahari (the destroyer of poison), Nityā (eternal) and Padmavati.
Mahabharata:
Manasa as Jaratkaru was initially recognized as a daughter of the sage Kashyapa and Kadru, the mother of all nagas.
