The Nāga King at the Lake of Anavatapta in Xuanzang’s Great Tang Records

Record summary

Xuanzang’s account of the sacred Lake Anavatapta and associated nāga traditions preserves a Buddhist geographical and religious narrative in which serpent beings inhabit or protect important waters. The passage matters for comparison because it links a creature tradition to a named place, pilgrimage routes and late-antique Buddhist cosmography. It should not be treated as a zoological sighting: nāgas combine serpent imagery, local water cults and Buddhist mythic geography. The exact historical geography of Anavatapta and the relationship between oral traditions and Xuanzang’s written compilation remain uncertain.