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One snake for two people in Indian village

by Sailendra Sil

Fri Aug 31, 2007

News

(copyright Agence France Press)

 

For some people, a poisonous snake hissing in their

courtyard is the stuff of nightmares. But in this sleepy

village in eastern India, the reptiles are welcome and

abundant.

 

The village of Choto Pashla in West Bengal state has

one snake for every two residents, mainly the poisonous

monocled cobra, a black reptile with a yellow ring

around its neck that can grow to seven feet (two metres)

in length.

 

Such snakes are found everywhere -- in rice fields,

ditches, muddy ponds and even sometimes sunning

themselves by houses -- and no one appears to fear

them.

 

" The poison-fanged reptiles represent a way of life in

Choto Pashla. People of the neighbouring villages are

scared to come here, " said Samir Chatterjee, the local

school headmaster, who has written a book about the

snakes.

 

" A recent count by the villagers found there are more

than 3,000 snakes in this village of 6,000 people. "

 

The Geological Survey of India is studying the village to

figure out why the cobras are flourishing there, an

official said.

 

" We wonder why a particular species of snakes is

thriving in this village, " said the official, asking not to

be named. " We are looking into the topography of the

village. "

 

Local lore has it that the reptiles first came to the little

rice-farming village 130 kilometres (80 miles) northwest

of the state capital Kolkata en masse six centuries ago

during a flood.

 

The Hindu village began worshipping the snakes as the

representatives of a goddess and believe that their farms

have consequently prospered ever since.

 

" Women offer milk to the reptiles at midday when the

priest worships the goddess of snakes, Manasa, in the

temple, " said Chatterjee.

 

When a snake dies, the villagers place it in an earthen jar

and then immerses it in the sacred Ganges River.

 

Still, apart from feeding them and performing their last

rites, the villagers do try to keep the snakes at arm's

length, or more.

 

" Our customs forbid us from touching the snakes, " said

25-year-old Dipu Majhi who was bitten by a snake

nearly five years ago while fishing in a pond.

 

Nearly a dozen villagers die of snake-bite every year,

locals say, with the village still relying on traditional

treatments.

 

" I was asked to bathe in the pond beside the temple of

the goddess of snakes and then a pinch of mud from the

temple compound was rubbed on the injury, " said Majhi,

a fish and vegetable seller.

 

" My hand swelled but healed after a week. "

 

Anti-venom drugs are available at some hospitals in the

state, but these may not be near enough for the villagers

to get to in time.

 

" It's a unique village where poisonous cobras are co-

existing with human beings, " said Dipak Mitra, a

herpetologist. Mitra also runs a snake park in Kolkata

with 700 species of the reptiles, and has visited the

village.

 

" It's simply incredible, " he said.

 

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