KALIYA
Hindu Mythology
Mythology of India
This is the name of a monstrous serpent in the Hindu mythology of India. KALIYA is described as a five-headed, bejeweled snake that inhabited the deepest parts of the River Yamuna, or Jumna. KALIYA was the king of the serpents who emerged from their depths at night to lay waste to the surrounding countryside and then sleep in a particular tree.
One day the the young god KRISHNA climbed this very tree and dived into he water beneath. The vast, heated wave that he created burned the tree.
The outraged KALIYA summoned his serpent hordes and encircled KRISHNA, ready to destroy him. But the god easily escaped and danced on the head of KALIYA. All his powers were drained, which so terrified the serpents that KALIYA and they departed to the oceans forever. For this gesture of good will, KRISHNA promised that GARUDA, who killed serpents, would never touch them.
Source: Giants, Monsters, and Dragons: An Encyclopedia of Folklore, Legend, and Myth