The story of Lord Krishna subduing the venomous naga Kaliya is mentioned in the Bagavata Purana. The giant serpent Kaliya used to live on the island of Ramanaka, but was driven from there in fear of Garuda. He found himself a new place to dwell in the Yamuna river, but because of his extremely poisonous nature, he intoxicated not only this river but also a large area around it, making it a very dangerous situation for all people and animals residing nearby.
When a few unfortunate incidents happened there at the riverbanks, Lord Krishna heard of it and came to the assistance. It came to a great fight between Krishna and Kaliya in and under the water, ending after many hours with Krishna rising from the water dancing victorious on the head of Kaliya, who had no other choice but to surrender himself to the deity.
Because of the pleas of Kaliya's wife, Krishna showed mercy on him and instead of killing him made him return to his original home on the island of Ranaka. To protect Kaliya from Garuda, Krishna imprinted his head with his divine footprints.
The story of Krishna and Kaliya Naag is of course a well-beloved one because of the obvious "good conquering evil" layer in it and also because of the message of compassion.
This figurine is a good quality bronze one, well made and nicely detailed. It is 10 centimeters high and has a diameter at the bottom of 28 millimeters. The weight is 103 grams.
This statue is quite an old one already and therefore shows some minor signs of its age and previous usage, but is overall in very good condition.
