The legendary serpent race that took form as cobras often can be found in Hindu iconography. The nagas are described as the powerful, splendid, wonderful and proud semidivine race that can assume their physical form either as human, partial human-serpent or the whole serpent.
Their domain is in the enchanted underworld, the underground realm filled with gems, gold and other earthly treasures called Naga-loka or Patala-loka. They are also often associated with bodies of waters - including rivers, lakes, seas, and wells - and are guardians of treasure.
Their power and venom made them potentially dangerous to humans. However, they often took beneficial protagonist role in Hindu religion, such as in Samudra manthan, Vasuki, a Maharaja who abides on Shiva's neck, became the churning rope for churning of the Ocean of Milk. Their eternal mortal enemies are the Garudas, the legendary semidivine birdlike-deities.
Vishnu is originally portrayed in the form sheltered by Sesaanaga or reclining on Sesa, but the iconography has been extended to other deities as well. The serpent is a common feature in Ganesha iconography and appears in many forms: around the neck, use as a sacred thread wrapped around the stomach as a belt, held in a hand, coiled at the ankles, or as a throne.
Shiva is often shown garlanded with a snake. Maehle states that "Patanjali is thought to be a manifestation of the serpent of eternity".