Serpent Ritual) is a 1997 Indian Kannada-language drama film, directed by T. S. Nagabharana and written by Girish Karnad.

[1] Produced by Srihari L. Khoday with music by C. Aswath,[2] It is an adaptation of a 1988 play by Karnad with the same name which is based on a local folk tale and ritual.

The film depicts a romantic plot between a woman and a snake in the disguise of her uncaring husband.

[4] Karnad's play has been compared with Vijaydan Detha's 1970s Rajasthani folkloric short story Duvidha which has a similar plotline and has also been cited as a source for this film.

[8] The movie begins with Kurudamma (blind woman) and her son Kappanna visiting her nephew for a Devi festival.

Next day she does so but Appanna falls unconscious only to regain consciousness after a minute and leaves the house as usual.

Rani tries to drug the milk, but it catches fire and Appanna arrives home at the same time and goes to bathe as usual.

Next morning after the gym session Appanna arrives home and sees Rani lying half naked in bed.

The snake comes back to Rani in Appanna's form and learns of her pregnancy and asks her to keep it a secret and not talk about it in the morning.

After a couple of days, Kurudamma and Kappanna learns of the pregnancy and rush to the gym to congratulate Appanna.

During the panchayat investigation, some people in the crowd demand a severe test - 'Naga divya' - holding a snake in the hand and swearing by the truth.

Nagamandala is a movie based on folk tales spread in North Karnataka, India.

[citation needed] The film uses a magical folktale to reveal the complexity of human life.

In particular, the film focuses on the folktale in the Indian context to reveal the social and individual relations.

It also touches on the imposition to prove fidelity on married women while their husbands are not questioned about their extramarital affairs, and the village judicial system.