Off The Record
This Giant Snake Rock in Thailand Is a Fascination of Many
Phu Langka National Park is a great destination for those wondering about Thailand’s culture who want to see something other than temples and malls.
The park is well-known for its creepy Naka Cave, which is home to a large, silent rock shaped like a snake.
Because of its resemblance to a serpent, the snake rock is steeped in mystery, with some locals even holding the theory that it previously housed a real, gigantic snake.
Many tales surround Naka Cave; many of them are made up because of the cave’s unusual resemblance to a serpent.
One stone slab is shaped like the top half of a python, making it look like the snake’s head, while a group of large, scaly pebbles looks like its coiled body.
Based on Buddhist mythology, the gigantic snake rock is named after the “Naga”. It has been said that nagas are a mix of human and serpent, creatures of the underworld who may assume human shape.
Two Naga lords are credited in myth for slithering through the area that is now Phu Langka National Park to create the Mekong River that flows through northeastern Thailand and Laos.
If we believe the old tales, the serpent rock could have been a Naga king who had given up and settled in for a lengthy nap.
Less culturally grounded, but theoretically more ambitious, is another folktale that tries to make sense of the big snake rock.
Some sightseers believe the massive rock was originally a titanoboa that was petrified by volcanic activity.
You probably know that the titanoboa was the largest snake that ever lived. This makes sense, considering how big the snake rock is.
Fortunately, every mystery can be solved by a little bit of science. Authorities from Phu Langka National Park claim that the sun-cracked rocks that make up the gigantic snake rock are more than 100,000 years old.
The rock expanded throughout the day and shrank during the night, resulting in fissures.
Erosion from rain and snow worked together to sculpt the gigantic snake rock into its distinctive scaly shape.
I think this is a cool thing to see in Thailand. Plus, it was only discovered in 2020, making it a relative newcomer!
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