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Nagapanchami

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‘Nagapanchami’-festival of worshipping, feeding and offering is celebrated throughout India and Nepal with great vigour and devotion like any other festivals. There are some myths and facts behind the celebration, worship and offerings that are given to the snake God.

Hinduism is a religion of faith and is surrounded by common search of truth. For Hindus all this means a way of life and worshipping forces of nature has been a part of Hinduism from ancient times.

The sacred ‘Nagapanchami’ festival, dedicated to snake God is celebrated on the fifth day (panchami) of the moonlit fortnight of the Hindu of Shravan falls in the month of July or August, the advent of the rainy season in many parts of India.

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It is also the beginning of the harvest season, when crops attain their full growth and the harvest is ready to be reaped. In countries like India the reaping of the harvest is (still largely) a manual operation and farmers have to work in the fields all by themselves, thus exposing themselves to the bites of poisonous snakes lurking unseen among the dense crop. This fear seems to be the main cause for Nagapanchami celebrations. Propitiating the snake god provides some psychological succour to the poor rural folk whose main occupation remains agriculture.

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The main reason of celebrating this day must be that snakes are a great threat to mankind during these months. They usually come out of their holes as rainwater seeps in and while looking for shelter they might harm humans. This is the reason, why they are worshipped this day and fed with milk.

It is during this period that the greatest numbers of deaths from snake-bite occur in many places. The people of the country-side labour under the impression that the only way of obtaining immunity from snakebite is by propitiating the snake-goddess Manasa.

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The exact origins of the Nagapanchami festival are unknown. It is not known when the worship of snakes and the snake-god precisely began. The mere sight of the slithering reptile gives many of us a creepy feeling and hence, the worship of snakes in India appears strange to many people, especially those who do not familiar with Hindu customs.

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But then, snakes have been associated with many Hindu Gods. Sheshnaga (Snake with Six hoods) is the vehicle of Vishnu. The world according to Hindu mythology and cosmogony rests on the head of Sheshnaga, and when he shakes his head we have earthquakes.

The custom of snake-worship is believed to have come from the “Naga” clan, a highly developed tribe who lived in ancient India. The Indus Valley civilization of 3000 B.C. gives ample proof of the popularity of snake-worship amongst the Nagas, whose culture was fairly wide-spread in India even before the Aryans came. Later, the Indo-Aryans began to worship many of the snake deities of the Nagas and some of them even found mention in the Hindu Puranas.

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Manu, the ancient law-giver of the Hindus also makes mention of the Nagas and the Sarpas. Carved or painted figures of snakes can be found on the walls of many Hindu temples that exist from the medieval era. Images of snake worship rituals can also be spotted in the world famous Ajanta caves.

In medieval India figures of snakes were carved or painted on the walls of many Hindu temples. In the carves at Ajanta images of the rituals of snake worship are found. Kautilya, in his “Arthashastra” has given.

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The mention of the Nagas and the Sarpas is also found in the Mahabharata. In the sacred Hindu text Bhagavad-Gita, one witnesses how Lord Krishna tells Arjuna that Vasuki and Ananta represent him amongst the Sarpas and the Nagas respectively.

The Hindu Puranas (Sanskrit encyclopedic texts) also mention the Nagas and the Sarpas. In the Bhagavata Purana, Vasuki and eleven other Nagas are mentioned as forming the string of the sun’s chariot, one serpent being held to be sacred to each month. The Markandeya Purana embodies the well-known story of the marriage of Madalasa, a Naga princess of superb beauty, with King Kulvalasva.

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In the apologue of the gold-giving serpent, the fifth fable of the Panchatantra (famous Indian collection of fables and other morally instructive tales), authentic evidence is found of the prevalence of serpent-worship in the post-Vedic ages of Ancient India.

According to Panchatantra, which was composed between the first and sixth centuries, the tradition of snake-worship existed in India prior to the sixth century A.D.

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During the course of Jean Baptiste Tavernier’s visit to India in the seventeenth century, he saw the serpent worshipped in the form of an idol. But he neither mentioned the name of the festival nor given any further details, does the description correspond with the Nagapanchami festival as it is observed throughout India at the present day.

Reason behind celebrating Nag Panchmi 
It is believed that Krishna, a Hindu God had saved the lives of people from the harassment of Kaliya-the snake.It is believed that one day, when Krishna was playing by the side of river Yamuna and his ball got stuck in the branches of a tree that was just by the side of the river. While trying to get that ball, Krishna fell into the river. When Kaliya- the snake attacked him, he fought and after some time the snake understood that he was not an ordinary child. This was when he pleaded Krishna not to kill him and Krishna spared him by taking a promise that he will not harass the people anymore. Nag Panchmi is celebrated as the victory of Krishna on Kaliya, the most dangerous snake.

Ways of worshipping in various states of India 
People do not dig the earth this day and offer cow’s milk, fried paddy, rice’s breed and durva (tip of a special grass) in front of the pictures of Nag or make its idol of mud and sand and worship it. This festival is celebrated all over India and more or less the way of worshipping is same.

People believe that Lord Shiva, a Hindu God, loves and blesses snakes and so by worshipping the snakes they also try to please him. Lord Shiva is believed to be one of the most short-tempered Gods and can even ruin your life if he gets angry. Some people even worship live cobras on the Nag Panchmi day and offer them milk and other offerings as feed.

India is a country with different cultures and so the celebration varies from one state to state. In Maharashtra, a group of people asks alms and clothing by taking a dormant cobra in a plate and visiting as many houses as possible.

In Kerala, people prefer visiting the snake temples and worship the stone or metal icons of snakes and pray so that they and their families are saved from any snakebite throughout the year.

There are many different kinds of belief behind offering milk and flowers to the snake God and the names also vary. Young girls pray and offer milk to cobras with the intention of getting married to a good person so that they live their lives happily.

It is believed that snakes remember the faces and they take revenge with the whole family even if one of the members harms it. So, married women pray to save their families from any kind of harassment that can happen due to the snakes.

“WISHING ALL THE” KANNADIGAWORLD” READERS A HAPPY NAGAPANCHAMI

Shekar Moily

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