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HINDUSTAN TIMES (New Delhi, India) 15 September 06 People offer prayers to snake 'sati' at a Rajasthan village
Benad, Rajasthan (Indo-Asian News Service): People are thronging a Rajasthan village in thousands to seek blessings of a female snake that immolated itself on a male snake's pyre.
The female snake's plunge into the pyre in Benad village, 30 km from the state capital Jaipur, is seen as 'sati'.
According to villagers, a black snake got crushed under a truck on a highway on September 4. As the villagers were trying to cremate it, a female snake plunged into the fire.
In less than two weeks, over 100 shops mushroomed in the village, catering to the devotees.
Lala Ram, a tea vendor from Jaipur who went to Benad to offer prayers said, "Sati performed by a female snake holds great religious significance. It has only happened in mythological stories. Benad has now become a pious place and we are here to seek blessings."
According to a shopkeeper, 15-20 bags of coconut are being sold daily at the spot. "We are helping the devotees," the shopkeeper said.
The villagers have also formed a Nag Nagin Trust to build a temple for the snake gods.
http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_1797415,000900010008.htm

THE STATESMAN (Kolkata, India) 15 September 06 Snake commits Sati!
Jaipur: You must have heard of a woman committing Sati by jumping into her husband’s funeral pyre. But have you ever heard of a snake doing the same?
If residents Benad village are to be believed, they have seen a nagin (female cobra) committing sati and it has become place then. A truck driver reportedly killed a snake on 4 September. He threw it in the bushes. Some villagers decided to burn it. As the snake was being burnt, a female cobra reportedly jumped into fire. The onlookers took it as evidence of some celestial power in the snake couple.
This news of “a nagin committing sati” spread like wildfire and people started visiting the place and offering prayers at the nag-nagin’s samadhi. Some claim to have been cured of their ailments by it.
People from far off places now visit the village everyday to offer prayers and it appears as if some fair is going on. Cashing on it, some shopkeepers are making quick buck by selling garlands, flowers, sweets and other things required for worshipping.
http://www.thestatesman.net/page.news.php?clid=2&theme=&usrsess=1&id=129999

THE STATESMAN (Kolkata, India) 17 September 06 Snake sati a land-grab tactic?
Jaipur: The story of a female cobra committing Sati by jumping into her mate’s pyre has taken an interesting turn. While owners of the land where the samadhi of the snake couple has been erected said that the incident has been concocted to grab their land. Police have termed it as baseless rumour.
Still, hundreds of people are visiting the Bainad village under Harmada police station where a nagin reportedly committed sati when a dead snake was being burnt on 4 September. In his complaint, the owner of the land, Mr Gullaram Raiger said that those who have erected the samadhi of the snake couple are playing with religious sentiments of the people. Their objective is to dislodge the family from the land, he added.
He said that some villagers have concocted the story of a snake committing Sati. The Harmada police has registered case against unknown persons for glorification of Sati and fraud under Section 448 of the IPC.
“The problem is nobody has been named in the complaint,” the investigating officer, Mr Gajanan Sharma told The Statesman. “None of the people we have questioned admit having seen the snake committing Sati. But prima facie I can say that there is nothing like snake committing Sati and it’s just a rumour,” he added.
The shops selling coconuts, incense sticks and other items of worship to devotees are doing brisk business. The rumour has been fuelled by the fact that some people claim to have been cured of their ailments after prayer at the samadhi.
Another such incident has been reported from a village near the city. Villagers in Sundarpur claimed on Thursday that when they burned a black snake, his mate turned up and kept sitting there for the whole day.
They claimed to have made several efforts to drive the snake away but in vain. There also villagers from neighbouring places visited the place.
Snake sati a land-grab tactic?