This day is dedicated for
snakes. Naga Panchami falls on the 5th day of the waxing moon in the
month of Shravan (July-August). This is the time when serpents invariably come
out of their holes that get filled with rain water. The snakes seek shelter in
gardens and in houses. India has variety of snakes and thousands of people die
every by snake bites. Incidently the festival falls during rainy season.
People belived that this is
the day when Lord Krishna over powered the Serpent Kaliya and saved the people
from drinking the poisonous water. In another version it is said that after
creating earth, Lord Vishnu rested on the thousand headed Shesh Nag Anantha on
this day. It is an age old religious belief that serpents are loved and blessed
by Lord Siva. He always wears them around his neck. So Snakes are dear to the
Gods.
In south India people make
images of the snakes as part of their snake worship. The Vedic and yoga
concepts say that snakes resemble the cord of a human being. There are snake
temples in our country with idols of snake gods. Snakes are worshipped and fed with
milk and turmeric powder on this day. In these temples cobras are also reared
and live snakes are worshipped on Nag Panchami day. This dimension of Nag
Panchami festival is vast and diverse.
Special prayers and poojas
instill a great awareness among the people to be cautious against poisonous
snakes. At the same time it reminds all not to killsnakes as they are the
friends of farmers.