Ride along: The Arjuna Wijaya chariot statue in Central Jakarta is a depiction from the Hindu epic Mahabharata. (JP/P.J. Leo)Indian cultural and religious beliefs began to flow into Southeast Asia at the beginning of the Common Era. There, they were gradually adapted to fit the local customs and needs of peoples in the region.Author J.K. Rowling recently tweeted about the character of “Nagini” in the film Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald by writing, “The Naga are snake-like mythical creatures of Indonesian mythology, hence the name ‘Nagini’. They are sometimes depicted as winged, sometimes as half-human, half-snake[...].”Rowling’s comment linking “Nagini” to Indonesian mythology drew a reaction about the true origin of the word Nagin or Nagini.Indian author Amish Tripathi, who wrote The Secret of the Nagas, the second novel of the Shiva Trilogy, tweeted ...