The Snake
The snake in the picture is the King Cobra (Ophiophagus hannah). It is very poisonous; its bite can even kill an elephant. A person would be dead within 15 to 20 minutes of being bitten.
The King Cobra can grow up to 5.5m (18 foot) long. It is not normally aggressive. To frighten off an enemy it hisses and raises the front of its body, spreading out the skin around its neck until it looks like a hood.
Indrajita
Ravana's son Indrajita is also known as Meganatha. He earnt the name Indrajita by defeating Indra, the god of heaven, in combat.
The Sacred Books
Christianity has the Bible. Islam has the Koran, but the Hindu faith has no one religious text. Throughout the centuries Hinduism, the world's oldest religion, has gathered a great many sacred texts. Probably the most important and also among the oldest are the Vedas: a collection of four volumes of hymns; the Rig Veda, Sama Veda, Yajur Veda and Etharva Veda. There is also a further text called the Brahmanas which forms a commentary on the hymns of the four Vedas.
The Upanishads are made up of teachings on such mystical concepts as 'World Soul' (Brahmin) and how the individual soul (atman) reaches oneness with the World Soul to gain release (Moksha) from the cycle of birth and death.
