Nag Panchami puja is the worship of the nagas, the serpent deities, at drawings on the house wall or at a small image, with water, turmeric, flowers, rice and an offering of milk. In short: bathe, draw the nagas beside the door, worship them, hear the katha, and keep the day gentle, with no digging or ploughing and no harm to any living snake.
The date for your city is on the Nag Panchami date page; the tithi changes from year to year, so check the panchang for the day itself. No times are written here, because they differ by city.
Samagri: what to keep ready
- Something to draw with: turmeric paste, sandal paste, a little cow dung, or a piece of charcoal; in some homes geru (red ochre) or rice paste
- Or, instead of a drawing, a small silver, brass or clay naga, or a printed picture of the nagas
- A small bowl of milk, and a lota of clean water
- Roli or kumkum, turmeric, akshat (unbroken rice), a few flowers and durva grass
- A ghee lamp and incense
- For bhog: soaked or sprouted gram and moong, puffed rice or lava, kheer or a simple sweet, and in some homes roasted grain
- A red or yellow thread (mauli)
- The katha, written or remembered
None of this needs to be new or costly. A turmeric drawing made by a child is worshipped just as fully as a silver image.
The puja, step by step
- Bath and sankalp. Bathe in the morning and wear clean clothes. Sit facing east, take a little water in the right hand, and say in your own words that you are keeping Nag Panchami for the protection and well-being of the family. Let the water fall to the ground.
- Draw the nagas. Clean the wall on either side of the main door, or a patch of the courtyard floor. With turmeric, sandal, cow dung or charcoal, draw a row of serpents: five, seven or nine in many families, sometimes a single coiled naga with several hoods. Some families draw them inside the puja room instead.
- Ganesh first. Light the lamp and offer a flower and a pinch of rice to Ganesh, who is remembered before any puja.
- Worship the nagas. Sprinkle water on the drawing or image. Offer turmeric, roli, rice, flowers and durva, and tie a little mauli near it. Place the bowl of milk before the drawing as the offering; this is what the daughter in the katha did, and it is offered to the image, not given to an animal. Many families name the great nagas, among them Ananta, Vasuki, Shesha, Padma, Kambala, Karkotaka, Takshaka and Kaliya, while offering flowers, and say "Om Nagadevatabhyo Namah".
- Offer bhog. Set out the soaked gram, lava and sweet before the image.
- Hear the katha. Sit with the family and read or listen to the Nag Panchami katha, the story of the farmer's plough and the daughter's worship.
- Aarti. Wave the lamp before the drawing; many homes sing a Nag Devta aarti or a Shiva aarti.
- Anthill or temple, if it is your custom. Some families go to a nearby anthill (the snake's home) or a stone nagakal under a tree and pour a little milk and water there, with turmeric and flowers. Do this quietly, without digging or disturbing the earth.
- The milk afterwards. Milk placed before the image at home is used as prasad or poured at the foot of a tree. It is not put out for snakes.
About living snakes
This needs to be said plainly. Snakes do not drink milk in nature; they eat rats, frogs and eggs. A snake forced to swallow milk can become ill, and the snakes that handlers carry round on this day are usually caught from the wild, kept in baskets and often have their fangs or mouths damaged. The practice is cruel and is against wildlife law in India. If a snake turns up in your house or field, keep your distance, keep children away, and call the forest department or a trained local snake rescuer. The tradition itself never needed a living snake: the daughter in the katha worshipped a drawing on her own wall.
Checking the time
There is no strict muhurat for most homes; the puja is done in the morning on the Panchami tithi. What matters is that the Panchami is the tithi at sunrise or during the morning in your city, which the panchang shows. Families who like to begin in a good window look at the morning choghadiya. The date page explains how the day is chosen when the Panchami is short.
Customs families keep
These are customs, not conditions; your own family's way comes first.
- No ploughing, digging or breaking the soil, out of care for snakes in their burrows.
- In some homes no chopping, frying or iron griddle (tava) for the day, and simple food is eaten, sometimes cooked the day before.
- Some keep a fast until the puja, or eat one meal; pregnant, unwell and older people take fruit, milk and water, and a doctor's advice comes first.
- Married daughters often visit their parents' home, or send gifts, remembering the daughter of the katha.
- Swings are hung from trees in many villages of the north, and girls sing the songs of Sawan.
Regional ways
- Maharashtra: women draw nagas with sandal or turmeric and sing fugdi songs. At Battis Shirala near Sangli, once famous for catching live cobras on this day, the celebration now uses images and processions, after courts and wildlife law stopped the handling of live snakes.
- Karnataka: Nagara Panchami, when sisters pray at the nagakal for their brothers, and anthills are worshipped with milk and turmeric.
- Ujjain: the Nagchandreshwar shrine at the top of the Mahakaleshwar temple opens for darshan only on this day.
- Bengal: the serpent goddess Manasa is worshipped through the rainy season, especially at the turn of the month of Shravana, on a different reckoning from the Panchami.
- Andhra Pradesh and Telangana: the main serpent worship is Nagula Chavithi, kept on a Chaturthi in Kartika, a few days after Diwali, with milk poured at anthills.
- Gujarat: Nag Pancham often falls in the dark half of the month on the Gujarati calendar, a few days before Janmashtami, and families worship the nagas at home and at local shrines.
After the puja
Share the bhog with the family. The next festival in the month is Raksha Bandhan, and in Bhadrapada women keep Rishi Panchami.