Case file · Folklore / legend
Patala, realm of the nagas
Hindu cosmology places seven underworlds beneath the earth, the lowest called Patala or Naga-loka, home of the serpent nagas, demons and jewel-lit palaces more splendid than heaven.
400 CE · 29.71, 80.04 · status: legend
The account
The Puranas describe Patala's beauty, with soils of gold and purple and music in the air. Cave shrines such as Patal Bhuvaneshwar in Uttarakhand are held to be entrances to the underworld and are visited by pilgrims.
The sceptical view
A religious cosmology; the cave shrines are natural limestone caves.