The Nagas · Shiva
Nag Panchami
The monsoon day of the serpents — reverence for the beings of the deep earth.
Tithi: Shravana Shukla Panchami
In the simplest words
The day we honour snakes instead of fearing them — milk and flowers for the nagas, who guard the earth's secrets in our stories.
The story & purpose
In the rain month of Shravana, when serpents leave flooded burrows, tradition chose reverence over fear: the nagas — Shesha who bears Vishnu, Vasuki around Shiva's neck — are offered milk and turmeric at doorsteps and anthills.
The tithi has a story of mercy at its root: Janamejaya's great snake sacrifice — vengeance for his father's death by Takshaka's bite — was halted mid-mantra by the boy-sage Astika, and the day the serpents were spared became their festival. Krishna's dance on Kaliya is remembered the same day: the serpent subdued, then garlanded and released — power that corrects without annihilating.
What is done
Naga puja
Images of nagas drawn or installed and offered milk, akshat, and flowers.
No digging
Earth is not dug or ploughed today — the serpents' home is left in peace.
Milk at the image
Offerings go to nag images — silver, clay, or painted — at homes and ant-hills; living snakes are honoured from a safe distance, never handled.
Best timings
Morning puja during Panchami tithi.
Exact muhurat varies by city and tradition — for the precise hour, consult a local panchang for your location.
Worth knowing
Shiva's Vasuki became the churning rope of the ocean of milk.
Battis Shirala in Maharashtra was famous for parading live cobras on Nag Panchami; since court orders of the 2000s the village keeps the day with images and its fair.
In Nepal a naga image is pasted above the door on this day to guard the house through the year.