Hierarchy classification:

1. top of the aat hierarchies
2. Objects Facet
3. Visual and Verbal Communication (hierarchy name)
4. Visual Works (hierarchy name)
5. visual works (works)
6. [visual works by material or technique]
7. sculpture (visual works)
8. [sculpture by subject type]

Anotations

Scope note:

Carved ‘serpent stones’ commissioned by Indian women that evoke symbolic properties of the tree and the serpent. These are set beneath sacred trees, and are thought to bestow fertility, especially to the barren. Stone or terracotta nāgakals bearing Shaivite or Vaishnavite symbolism may be found side by side under the same tree-shrine. Most often these are carved by local craftsmen.