Why Snakes in Snakes and Ladders? The Sacred Snakes of Ancient India

I’m certain that at some point in your life, you’ve played Snakes and Ladders… or if you’re an American ‘Chutes and Ladders’. And that difference, ‘Snakes’ verses ‘Chutes’ is a surprisingly interesting one. In both versions you climb up a ladder, and in the American version, you slide down a ‘chute’… or a slide. Makes sense right? But around most of the rest of the world we slide down a snake. Why? Well the origin of Snakes and Ladders is almost 2000 years old, and found in ancient India – in a game called Moksha-Patam. Join curator Sushma Jansari as she takes you on a tour of just some of the Sacred Snakes and Serpents of the devotional religions of Ancient India; Buddhism, Hinduism and Jainism. Once you've finished the video, we promise you'll start noticing snakes in sacred art EVERYWHERE. Plus, you'll realise they aren't always as bad an omen as you first thought. 00:00 Why are there snakes in Snakes and Ladders? 01:39 Ganesha and snakes 2:30 What are Nagas and Naginis? 2:50 Are snakes a good omen? 3:50 Pillar from Amaravati 04:28 Vishnu and snakes 5:42 Carved ammonite serpent 6:56 Krishna and snakes 08:34 Jain Enlightened Teacher Parshvanatha 10:37 Padmavati; Queen of Snakes 11:36 Buddhism and snakes 12:40 Snakes in Ancient India #curatorscorner #ancientindia #snakes