Naag Pasa

Naag Pasa depicts the three realms of the world. The upper register of the painting represents Vaikuntha Loka (heaven), and the lower register represents the Naraka Loka (hell). Illustrated between is the mortal world of living beings – here represented by Hindu and Buddhist deities who sit in numbered sections alongside nagas (mythical snakes). Good deeds take people to heaven, while bad deeds are punished by a quick slide down a naga to hell. The game of snakes and ladders can be traced back to ancient South Asia where it is known to have been played from at least the second century BCE. While Jain depictions of snakes and ladders are well known in India, Hindu and Buddhist interpretations such as this contemporary Nepali example – where there are snakes but no ladders – are rare.