Serpent worship, popularly referred to in India as the Naga Cult, is perhaps one of the most ancient forms of worship. It is not confined to India alone. Rather, ample evidence of serpent worship is available in different parts of the world. However, the scope and extent of this form of worship assumes special significance in Indian content. Naga Cult in Orissa is an inter-disciplinary study of this ancient form of worship prevalent in different parts of the world, in general, and the folk cult of Nagbacha, in particular which is a popular religious creed among the tribals and peasants of rural Orissa. This study of such cult of Debahal in Sambalpur district with its rites and rituals demonstrates the social utility of folk practices as reminiscences of age-old and ancient cultural heritage of this land. The work is replete with a wealth of information on the subject drawing on all kinds of sources-archaeological, anthropological, historical, scriptural, literary and general. It is a work of assiduous scholarship and will prove to be of absorbing interest for the reader.
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