In Hindu and Buddhist lore of India and Southeast Asia, naga are divine serpent beings who protect sacred waters, guard temples, and keep precious jewels in underground caves.
As yet another example of influence from Dungeons and Dragons in my mythology art, I represent the naga based on how they appear in that game.
In D&D, naga are human-faced snakes...so that is how I represent them in my drawings of these powerful serpent beings:
This drawing from the India webpage is an introduction to naga and their mythology
In this representation of the Cambodian foundation story, I gave the naga princess arms so that she could hold the Hindu brahmin's hand
(Holding hands is my traditional way to represent romantic unions)
In this comic strip iteration of the Burmese story of Hkun Ai and Tung Hkam, the naga wife is also portrayed as a human-faced snake
Representations of mythological entities are always changing with the times.
In the case of Mythology Worlds, I continue the grand tradition of inserting D&D influences into mythology.
Hence, I represent Tiamat of Babylonian myth as a five-headed dragon that breathes fire, lightning, poison, cold air, and acid.
I portray Balor of Irish myth as a balrog (referred to as "balor" in D&D) and his Fomorian army as ugly purple giants.
However, I am willing to make some exceptions.
For example, I portray the Rakshasa (the big-bads of Hinduism) as classic demons instead of as tiger-people, as they are depicted in D&D.
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