Indian Cobra

The Indian cobra, also called the spectacled cobra, is a venomous elapid native to the Indian subcontinent. It is a moderately sized, heavy-bodied snake and one of the 'Big Four' species responsible for the most snakebite cases in Sri Lanka and India. It is revered in Hindu mythology and culture and is often seen with snake charmers. The name naja is a Latinised form of the Sanskrit word nāga, meaning cobra (Wikipedia, general species account).

All Asiatic cobras were once treated as conspecific with Naja naja and many were listed as its subspecies, which makes older literature confusing. Many of those subspecies were later found to be artificial or composite, and the species is now placed in the subgenus Naja alongside the other Asiatic cobras. Nationally Least Concern (Sri Lanka National Red List 2012).