Naga Kanya

Naga Kanya means in Sanskrit the virgin, the maiden of the Nagas. This picture refers to a beautiful Buddhist tale narrated in the XIIth chapter of the Lotus Sutra where a Naga princess, daughter of the Ocean (Sagara) comes to bodhicitta at the tender age of eight. Before an incredulous assembly of bodhisattvas (because she was so young, and a woman), the Nagini offers then to the Buddha a jewel, said to be worth thousands of worlds. When the bodhisattvas tell her that the Buddha accepted her jewel immediately, she told them to watch her become a buddha even more rapidly. The common interpretation of this myth is that her jewel was in truth her very own life, worth indeed thousands of worlds, and the gift of which was the ultimate price, whether it be spontaneous or the work of an entire life.

Naga Kanya is usually seen as a very beautiful young girl in sited position, holding precious jewels with her both hand in offering posture, She has 5 headed snake on top of her head as a crown and wings representing she has the ability to fly.