Nag Panchami 2020 – the Second Online Travel Varanasi – Divine Tourism Naga Panchami is a festival that includes both Hinduism and early Indian religious beliefs. Panchami means “fifth,” the day on which this Hindu festival is celebrated, and Naga refers to a group of serpent deities in early Indian religion. The mythical Nagas were semi-divine beings said to have sprung from Kadru, the wife of Rishi Kashyapa. Although they live and rule below the earth, the Nagas were believed to roam the earth wearing jewels and ornaments. SNAKE worship was fairly widespread in India at one time and is still an important part of popular religious practice in some regions. When Naga culture was incorporated into Hinduism, many of the snake deities were accepted by the Hindus into their belief systems. The thousand-headed serpent Ananta, for example, is the most powerful of the Nagas. It is on the coils of Ananta that the Hindu god Vishnu is often seen resting. Shrines to the nagas can be found throughout India, and Hindu women often worship at “snake-stones” when they want to bear sons or avoid illness. As a festival in honor of the snake deities, Naga Panchami goes back to very ancient times. It is an occasion for fasting and worshipping cobras, since the Nagas were often depicted as cobras with extended hoods. If cobras are not available, huge cloth effigies of serpents are made and displayed in public, as are snakes made from metal, stone, and clay. Images of snake deities are often painted on walls as well. Worshippers offer milk and flowers to the cobras and coins to the snake charmers who gather in town for the festival. Because serpents live underground, digging in the earth is prohibited on this day. The Hindu god Shiva is also worshipped at this festival, since he is traditionally shown wearing snakes as ornaments. In temples dedicated to Shiva, particularly those in Ujjain and Varanasi, hundreds of cobras are brought in by trappers and released before the god’s image. Worshippers then empty their pots of milk over the snakes’ heads to protect themselves against snakebite throughout their lives. At the end of the day, there are serpent dances in open fields, and the snakes are freed. Ramesh Verma – CMD The second Online Travel Varanasi – Divine Tourism
