Naga

In various Asian religious traditions, the Nāgas (Sanskrit: नाग, romanized: Nāga) are a divine, or semi-divine, race of half-human, half-serpent beings that reside in the netherworld (Patala), and can occasionally take human or part-human form, or are so depicted in art. Furthermore, nāgas are also known as dragons and water spirits. A female nāga is called a Nagini (Hindi: नागिन nāgin). According to legend, they are the children of the sage Kashyapa and Kadru. Rituals devoted to these supernatural beings have been taking place throughout South Asia for at least 2,000 years. They are principally depicted in three forms: as entirely human with snakes on the heads and necks, as common serpents, or as half-human, half-snake beings in Hinduism and Buddhism.
Nagaraja is the title given to the king of the nāgas. Narratives of these beings hold cultural significance in the mythological traditions of many South Asian and Southeast Asian cultures, and within Hinduism and Buddhism. Communities such as the Nagavamshi, Khmer and Sri Lankan Tamils claim descent from this race.

Etymology

In Sanskrit, a nāgá (नाग) is a snake, most often depicted by the Indian cobra (Naja naja). A synonym for nāgá is phaṇin (फणिन्). There are several words for "snake" in general, and one of the very commonly used ones is sarpá (सर्प). Sometimes the word nāgá is also used generically to mean "snake". The word is cognate with English 'snake', Germanic: snēk-a-, Proto-IE: (s)nēg-o- (with s-mobile).
Alternatively, an Indo-European etymology as a "hairless, naked animal"—cognate to English "naked"—would explain that the Sanskrit word nāga can also mean "cloud", "mountain" or "elephant".

Hinduism…