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Account of a Naga House

The Bhutanese farmhouses have many square structures or shrines built as residences for the naga or serpent spirit which inhabit the earth. These structures, built like small stone houses contain a vase filled with the sacred substances which are appropriate for the spirits. It is believed that the spirits leave the northern highlands to travel to India or lower places in the winter and return to the shrines in the summer. The communities would have some accounts of who built the shrines, the boon granted by the spirit or the ailments caused by their displeasure.

Subject ID: S7824