Naiṇī Devī

[3] The main goal of the rituals, festivals and processions devoted to the Naiṇīs is to entertain them, to "make them dance and play" (nacānā aur khilānā) in their bamboo bodies, in male dancers in evening performances wearing cobra-shaped diadems, and in possessed mediums.

[4] On the day before that final event, a more naturalistic serpent puppet is made for the kaṃṣ phaṭnā ceremony, the enactment of a local story about Kṛṣṇa bringing the longest snake from the Nāglok to this world.

The mythological stories about the Naiṇīs name various Nāga kings as their father, alternatively Vāsuki or Kāliya, which are main characters of the classical Sanskrit epics, especially the first book of the Mahābhārata and the Harivaṃśa.

While there is a huge variety of stories about the Naiṇīs within their villages, most agree that they were brought onto the "world of mortals" (Mṛtyulok) by the seven primordial sages (mahārśi) to participate in a sacrificial ritual (yagya).

[6] The Naiṇīs share one main aspect with other Nāgas of Uttarakhand: they are intimately related to springs and irrigation channels (dhārā), crucial for the water supply to the rice fields.

In the Himalaya the Nāglok is identified as the place where the subterranean water comes from, whereas, in other parts of India, termite heaps are considered to be their portal to Earth’s surface.