Manasa

Manasa is a regional goddess considered to be a form of the Goddess. She is
worshiped mainly in eastern India, and
is primarily associated with snakes and
snakebites. As with Shitala, the goddess,
whose divine presence was considered
to be revealed by infection with smallpox, Manasa’s divine presence comes
violently with snakebites, considered
a form of divine possession. This conception shows the ambivalent nature
of many regional goddesses who are
both powerful and dangerous. When
Manasa appears, it is always traumatic,
and sometimes tragic; such is the nature
of human interactions with divinity.
Manasa is worshiped both to keep
people free from snakebites—a very
real concern in an agricultural country
with highly venomous snakes—or for
the recovery of a person who has been
bitten. Her worship is marked by
annual festivals at which people sing
songs in her honor, and which are
often marked by divine possession and
snake-handling.