A man who was sleeping in a Hindu temple got a rude awakening in the middle of the night when a deadly cobra slithered into bed with him.
Jai Upadhyay is a devotee of Hindu deity Lord Shiva and has been sleeping in the temple complex for 44 days.
CCTV captured the moment when Jai Upadhyay, who had been asleep in front of the Shivling, a representation of Lord Shiva, suddenly realised that he was no longer sleeping alone.
A spectacled cobra – a venomous snake that can grow to lengths of up to five feet, had decided to keep him company.
The shocking incident took place in Mandareshwar Temple in Banswara,north-west India.
It was around midnight when the slippery customer snuggled down with Jai, but it took the ICT manager a few minutes before he realised that something was up and leaped up from his striped sleeping mat.
As Jai rolled clear of the snake, the reptile was frightened and for a few moments looked ready to strike.
Jai, who thought at first that it was just a frog that had got in bed with him says the snake had wrapped itself around his thigh for a couple of minutes.
The temple is situated in the middle of the Aravalli mountain range where cobras and other dangerous wildlife such as leopards roam freely at night.
Indian cobras are a member of the 'big four' species that inflict the most snakebites on humans in India. They’re also particularly popular with traditional snake charmers.
While the snakes can’t actually hear the pipe, they can be fascinated by the way charmers move the instrument.
The cobras’ venom contains a powerful neurotoxin that paralyses muscles and shuts down the victim’s breathing.
To stay up to date with all the latest news, make sure you sign up to one of our newsletters here.
The venom was one used in very small doses as a recreational drug, with snake charmers being paid to make their snakes bite users, resulting in a euphoric “high”.
In the past Indian snake charmers would also stage cobra and mongoose fights.
These brutal blood sports, which usually ended with the the snake's death, are now illegal and these days the snakes are protected under the Indian Wildlife Protection Act.
Source: Read Full Article
