Nagas are spirits.
They are half-human and half-snakes.
They live in isolated and peaceful places. Sometimes in clear water springs. Or ancient trees. Or rocks.
If someone cuts an ancient tree or pollutes a spring where a Naga lives, the Naga will get VERY angry!
And he will take revenge on the offender.
Nagas will usually give skin diseases.
But if they are really angry, they can bring people to madness.
They can create many kinds of interferences too.
On the other hand, they can be friendly and kind, if respected.
When Buddha Shakyamuni was meditating under the Bodhi tree, just before attaining awakening, a storm arose. And the naga Muchalinda kindly protected him from the rain.
There is a village, In Mustang.
Its people have to perform the Singhanad’s Nagas Ritual EVERY year, always in the same period.
If they don't do it, the whole village's people get skin diseases.
Nobody knows how and when it started. It has been a long time ago.
But clearly, the villagers did something that strongly displeased the local Nagas. So they need to be pacified every year.
If the villagers remember to ask for the Puja at the right time...nothing bad happens!
But if they are just a little late, the diseases come back.
When an inexplicable and/or incurable sickness hits people, the Tibetan doctors always check if, by chance, it's a Naga problem. In that case, they will send the patient to a monastery, to ask for a Singhanad’s Nagas Ritual. And things will go back to normal!
