As Part of the tradition of the festival, women draw figures of snakes on the walls of their houses using a mixture of black powder, cow dung and milk.Then offering of milk, ghee,water and rice are made to the Snake God.On this day, farmers do not plough the filds for the fear of hurting a snake.It is believed that as a reward for this worship, snakes will never bite any member of the family .In the rural areas, the setting sun is a witness to processions of gaily-decorated bullock carts, trundling to nearby Shiva temples.Once there, excitement and merry-making take over, lasting well into the night.The men also set free the snakes they had captured the week before.
Hindus believe that the cyclical moulting makes snakes immortal, and elernity is thus represented in the from of a serpent eating its tail representing a circle, that has no beginning and no end.
Nag Panchami Celebration in Maharashtra
Nag Panchami is a festival in the honour of the Snake God Shesha Nag . Snake worship is an
important ritual of the Maharashtrians, and on the festival of Nag Panchami, clay icons of cobras are venerated in homes. People offer sweets and milk to the snake deity . Snake charmers carry cobras in baskets and collect offerings from the public in the streets. Women apply mehendi on their hands and the day is celebrated with dances and songs.
Nag Panchami Celebration in Punjab
In Punjab Nag-Panchami is known by the name of "Guga-Navami". A huge
snake is shaped from dough, which is kneaded from the contribution of
flour and butter from every household. The dough-snake is then placed on
a winnowing basket and taken round the village in a colourful
procession in which women and children sing and dance and onlookers
shower flowers. When the procession reaches the main square of the
village all the religious rites are performed to invoke the blessings of
the snake god and then the dough snake is ceremoniously buried.
Nag Panchami Celebration in Kerala
In Kerala, Nag Panchami is celebrated with great devotion in the many snake temples that exist in the state. On the festive morning, thousands of people throng these temples and worship stone or metal icons of the cosmic serpent AnantaNaga or SheshaNaga. They pray for the prosperity and happiness of the entire family and offer milk and other food items to the deities. The Nagaraja Temple in Kerala is one such place where elaborate worship of the snake-god can be seen complete with the performance of the rituals associated with the occassion.
