Namaste Orlando,
Traditionally, all Nāgas reside in the Jhāṛā Akhāṛā, which they know as Ānanda; and after Śaṅkara (c. 850), they were gradually organized into various formally established Akhāṛās.
There are now seven Śaiva Akhāṛās ~ Ānanda, Nirańjanī, Junā, Āvāhana, Aṭala, Nirvānī, and Agni.
There are also Vaiṣṇava Nāgas, who began establishing Akhāṛās (c. 1650) in imitation of the Śaiva system.
There was a great massacre of Vaiṣṇava Nāgas by disgruntled Śaiva Nāgas at Nāsik in 1690, and another battle at Haridwār in 1760 that left 1,800 dead.
There is now a kind of truce between the Śaiva and Vaiṣṇava Nāga Akhāṛās, although both parties are always kept well separated at Kumbha Melās !
Very few Nāgas actually go totally naked outside their Āśrama, except at the time of Kumbha Melā.
Very few Nāgas care to understand any foreign language, and most true Nāgas have no desire to meet “foreigners”. So, unless you know some Hindi language and have a reasonably functional understanding of orthodox Hindu Dharma, an encounter with a Nāga could be disappointing.
Bookmarks