Serpent deities known as Nāga were revered by the Nairs, and these deities would be placed in a grove in the family property. The groves would portray a miniature forest made to resemble Patala, and could feature various types of idols. Naga worship was significant to the entire tharavad since, as Gough says, they "... could inflict or avert sickness in general but were especially believed to be responsible for the fertility or barrenness of tharavad women". Gough speculates that the Nagas were seen as phallic symbols representing the procreative powers of the ancestors.