In July, many parts of India celebrate Naga Panchami — a festival related to the worship of snakes. Snake veneration spans continents and belief systems, often embodying transformation, fertility, protection, and cosmic wisdom. They are revered and feared, worshipped and dreaded — inspiring a complete duality of feeling and emotion.
In India, snakes are considered divine beings. They are seen as attendants of Shiva and guardians of subterranean treasures. On the day of the festival, many communities observe a fast and perform a puja at an auspicious time. Snake symbols are drawn using turmeric or sandalwood paste on walls or floors as a form of reverence. Milk, turmeric flowers, and sweets are offered to idols or live snakes.
Against this background — and with a growing understanding of the need to protect rather than vilify our wildlife — many have wondered why, in the traditional game of Snakes and Ladders, snakes are chosen to symbolise vices.
The traditional game of Snakes and Ladders (Parama Padam or Moksha Pattam) has snakes named for characters in Indian mythology who represent a vice, while ladders represent virtues. The game is believed to embody the journey of the human soul as it overcomes vices and moves towards moksha.
There are a few reasons I can think of that could answer the question. At a practical level, snakes were chosen to represent the lowest physical level in contrast to a ladder. As snakes move on their bodies without even the slightest of lifts provided by their feet, they move at the lowest physical level.
Secondly, while snakes are revered as guardians of wisdom and cosmic power, they also embody latent danger when provoked. It is this dual identity that has them representing vices. If one has the wisdom to overcome these vices, one can regenerate and grow. If not, they have the power to drag you down to the lowest level.
Another reason could be the fact that the snake shedding its skin is seen as a metaphor for revival and renewal. Thus, the shedding of vices in the game could be akin to shedding the skin — a chance for the self, the spirit, and the soul to renew and regenerate as a better human being.
It is also interesting that the names for the snakes in the game are not just of demons, but of flawed human beings — Mahabali, for example. Mahabali was an exceptional king with just one vice — a pride in himself that led to arrogance and his subsequent downfall.
Thus, the representation of snakes in the game is not a contradiction to its sacred status, but a mirror to human frailty, a reminder that reverence must be matched with responsibility. So many lessons and so much depth in what, to many people, is a simple childhood game. And how much we have lost in stripping it down to a mere dice game without the layers that make it unique and memorable.