Nag Panchami in Prayagraj

Nag Pabchami Festival At A Glance

Begins On :

5th Day of Shravan Shukla Paksha

Ends On :

5th Day of Shravan Shukla Paksha

Month:

July / August

Frequency:

Once in a year / Annually

Duration:

1 Day

Mode of Celebration:

Worshipping Cobra & Shiva Lingam

Place of Celebration:

Shiva Temples & Nag Vasuki Temple in Prayagraj

Nag Panchami, one of the revered religious festivals in India, is celebrated with gaiety in Prayagraj. Snakes or Nag or serpents are worshipped on the occasion of Nag Panchami festival. It is celebrated on the fifth day (hence Panchami, meaning fifth) in ‘Shukla Paksha’ (bright half, after the new moon) of the Hindu month of Shravan (July- August). The culture of serpent-worship has been fairly wide- spread in India since time immemorial and now forms an important part of popular religion. The evidences of the cult of ‘Nag Puja’ have been spotted in Harappan civization. Several snake-deities of the serpents are part of the pantheon of Hindu gods and some of them enjoy a high place in Puranic Hinduism. The thousand-headed hydra Ananta (symbolizing eternity) is the couch of Vishnu. Lord Shiva wears several snakes as ornaments on his person. Because of its habit of sloughing the skin, the serpent is believed to be immortal by the Hindus, and eternity is often represented as a serpent eating its tail.

As per the legend, King Parikshit died due to the bite of a snake named Takshak. Janmejaya (जन्मेजय), the grandson of Arjuna and son of King Parikshit (परीक्षित), had organized a ‘yajna’ to take revenge on the snakes and to destroy the ‘nagas’. The ‘yajna’ was stopped by Aastik Muni, son of sage Jaratkaru. He saved snakes from burning on Shravan Panchami, by pouring a torrent of milk on the bodies of the burning serpents. Since then the celebration of Nag Panchami became prevalent. According to another legend, Nag Panchami is celebrated to commemorate the defeat of the evil snake Kalia by Lord Krishna in his childhood.

As symbol of eight Nag deities – Ananta (अनन्त), Vasuki (वासुकि), Padma (पद्म), Mahapadma (महापद्म), Kulir (कुलीर), Takshak (तक्षक), Karkat (कर्कट) and Shankh (शंख) – on Nag Panchami live cobras or their images are worshipped. Snake- worship is fairly common in India as well as in Nepal. There are snake-shrines in several parts of India. During Nag Panchami it is meritorious to feed snakes in their shrines and elsewhere, and the pious to keep milk at places frequented by snakes. It is believed that worshiping Nag Devta brings happiness, wealth and prosperity to the house. In Prayagraj, during Nag Panchami, one ca spot several several snake charmers roaming in the Hindu colonies. The snakes they carry are worshipped by the faithful and offerings are made in cash and kind.

Though the Nag-worship is performed in every household in Prayagraj on the occasion of Nag Panchami but the festival is celebrated at grand scale in Nag Vasuki Temple.Nag Vasuki Temple is situated on the banks of the holy River Ganga in Daraganj locality and houses idols of Shesh Nag & Nag Vasuki. It is also said that when barbaric Islamic ruler Aurangzeb tried to destruct the idol of Nag Vasuki here, Nag Vasuki appeared before him in furious form and Aurngzeb fainted due to fear. Thus, the temple and its sculptures remained unscathed throughout the Mughal rule.

Nag Panchami – Days, Dates & Years:

Year	Date	Day
2022	2nd of August	Tuesday
2023	21st of August	Monday
2024	9th of August	Friday
2025	29th of July	Tuesday
2026	17th of August	Monday
2027	6th of August	Friday
2028	26th of July	Wednesday