sarpakaav.

Sarpakaav: untitled: 15 inches X 11 inches, acrylic on paper. no:b18feb09

In Kerala where I came from, Sarpakaavu is a sacred area, a plot of land, which is left undisturbed for serpent gods of Hindu pantheon.

For starters go here to find more about Sarpakaav.

Though a christian my mother's home as well as the house at their farm had Sarpakaavs. As kids we were really scared to enter or even stand in front of these sacred groves. We were scared of the sight of the snakes , as well as the magical stories associated with these two places that circulated in my moms family. In one of the Kaavs there was a huge palm tree which is said be the abode of a Yakshi. Only my grand mother goes inside these groves to clean the place . Once, while cleaning it, she suddenly stood still for several minutes. Watching this, we kids were frozen too with our mouths dry as paper. After sometime she relaxed and continued with her job. Later she told us that she saw a golden sarpam or serpent only one feet long. Serpents, it is told in our family that, as they grow, would turn into golden colour, shorten in length and their poison will become very potent so much so that even if one touches you, you are sure to die. Grand mother alway mixed facts with fiction in her talk but we believed every word of it.
Though we dont worship snakes, my grandfather never allowed anyone to kill them. It was believed that there were rat snakes, cobras, kraits and vipers in these groves. The one at the ancestral house occupied about three thousand to five thousand square feet of land which was like a section from a tropical forest.

In the early 2000's my maternal uncles cleared these groves during the partition of the properties, much to the dismay of both the grandparents.