Champavati is an Indian Folktale from Assam. 

This story is about a man who had two wives- the eldest one was called Laageeand the younger one was named Aelaagee. Both the wives had a daughter, Laagee was favoured by her husband and Aelaagee was not given much importance. One day, Aelaagee’s daughter Champavati was sent to drive away the quails in the rice fields.

Champavati was doing her work while singing a song when suddenly she heard a voice out of nowhere telling her they will marry her. Champavati was startled and she runs back to her parents but her father agrees to marry her to whoever is the owner of that voice.

The owner of the voice turned out to be a python.   

Champavati is married to the python and locked in a room alone with it. Champavati pleads Laagee to let her out but no one listened to her words. The next day the door was opened, instead of a body that elder wife and the father were expecting they saw Champavati coming unharmed and jewels adoring all her body.

Laagee was jealous and asked her husband to find a python to marry her own daughter. Father quickly made the arrangements and Laagee’s daughter was locked in a room with the python husband they found. Laagee eagerly opened the door next morning only to find a python lying on the floor with a huge bump, her daughter was devoured.

Laagee and her husband were devasted and jealous, they wanted to kill Aelaagee and Champavati. But Champavati husband ate both of them before they could do anything. Champavati was grateful and went to the forest to live with her serpent husband.

Few days later, Champavati met an old beggar woman who told her if she wanted to find her husband’s true form, she must burn the snakeskin her husband sheds at the night when she is asleep. Champavati accepted her suggestion and pretended to sleep that night and burned the snakeskin while her husband was away.

For the first time, Champavati met the handsome man under her husband’s snake appearance and they began live happily. But the happiness did not last long as the old woman returned and this time asked her to look inside her husband’s mouth to see the world.

Champavati asked her husband to open her mouth, he agreed before saying that if she sees his mouth, he will have leave for six years. Champavati was determined to look into his mouth so he showed to her and disappeared into the river. Before leaving, he told her the old woman was his mother and she asked her to do this because she does not accept their relationship and she wants to separate them.

Champavati realized her mistake but her husband had left. They reunited six years later and lived happily ever after.