Nag Panchami: What, Why, When, How

What it is

Nag Panchami is the day of the nagas, the serpent beings of Hindu tradition. It falls on the fifth day of the bright half of Shravana, in the monsoon. Families honour the nagas with milk, flowers and turmeric, draw snake figures at the door or on the wall, and ask for the safety of the household.

It is kept across India, with strong customs in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Bengal, Uttar Pradesh and the farming villages of the north and south. Many farmers do not plough or dig the soil on this day. Old accounts from North India give the reason: turning the soil would disturb Shesha, the great serpent who holds up the world, and Mother Earth.

Why it is kept

Krishna and Kaliya. The Vishnu Purana (book 5, chapter 7 in H. H. Wilson's translation) tells how the serpent Kaliya lived in a pool of the Yamuna and poisoned it: the trees on the bank withered, birds were scorched, and neither people nor cattle could drink there. The boy Krishna jumped into the pool, was bound in the serpent's coils, and then rose and danced on Kaliya's hoods. When the serpent's wives pleaded for him, Krishna spared him and told him to leave the river for the sea, promising that Garuda, the eagle and enemy of serpents, would not harm him once he saw the marks of Krishna's feet on his head. Many families remember this story on Nag Panchami: the serpent is defeated, but it is spared and sent home.

Astika and the sacrifice. The Mahabharata (Adi Parva) tells how King Janamejaya, to avenge his father's death by the serpent Takshaka, began a great sacrifice that drew serpents into its fire. The young sage Astika, whose mother was a naga, came to the sacrifice, won the king's favour with his words, and asked as his gift that the sacrifice stop. The king agreed, and the serpents were saved. Some traditions keep Nag Panchami as the day of that rescue.

Shiva and Vishnu. The serpent Vasuki is worn around Shiva's neck, and Vishnu rests on the serpent Shesha. So the nagas are honoured in temples of both, and many families visit a Shiva temple on this day.

The texts behind the story

• The Vishnu Purana, a system of Hindu mythology and tradition, translated by H. H. Wilson (London: John Murray, 1840) (Book V, Chapter VII (Kaliya), pp. 512–516 (leaves n610–n614); summarised, not quoted)
• The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa, translated into English prose (K. M. Ganguli), published by Protap Chandra Roy: Adi Parva (Calcutta: Bharata Press, 1884) (Adi Parva, Astika Parva, Sections L–LVIII (Janamejaya's vow, the snake sacrifice and Astika's boon), pp. 143–160 (leaves n176–n193); summarised, not quoted. The link to Nag Panchami is tradition.)

When it is kept

Nag Panchami is the fifth day (Panchami) of the bright half of Shravana. It is kept on the day on which Panchami covers the early morning (pratahkala, the first fifth of the daytime) at your location. If Panchami covers the early morning on both days, the first is taken; if on neither, the day on which Panchami begins. The app uses this rule because it matches published calendars; it is not read from a text.

The date, from the calendar engine

• Nag Panchami 2027: Nag Panchami Puja falls on Friday, August 6, 2027 in Washington DC (computed for this city). The date is the same in New Delhi.

The date depends on your city. Every city we cover is on the year page.

Traditions and regional customs

• Shravana Shukla Panchami, in the early morning
• Gujarati: Nag Pancham, kept on a dark-half Panchami a fortnight later (not computed by the app)

Why the day can differ

Calendars that take Panchami at sunrise alone can give the next day when Panchami begins after sunrise and still covers the early morning. In one recent year a published all-India calendar gave the day before the app's day, a day on which Panchami had not yet begun in the morning. In Gujarat, Nag Pancham is kept on a different day, the Panchami of the dark half, close to Janmashtami; the app does not show that day yet. Some southern families keep Naga Chaturthi on the day before Nag Panchami.

How to keep it at home

1. Bathe and clean the place of worship. Many families draw a snake figure at the door or on the wall with sandal paste, turmeric or cow dung, or place a small image of the nagas made of clay, silver or a picture.
2. Offer milk, water, flowers, turmeric, kumkum, rice and a lamp to the figure or image. Many families say the names of the great nagas, such as Ananta, Vasuki and Takshaka, and pray for the safety of the household.
3. In southern India, families visit a snake mound (an anthill) or a stone naga image under a tree, and pour milk on the stone. In Maharashtra and Karnataka, women and girls sing and play on swings.
4. Do not feed milk to a live snake or handle one. Milk is not a snake's food and can harm it, and in India wildlife law protects snakes. Offer the milk to the image, and leave live snakes alone.

Fasting

Some families keep a fast or eat one simple meal, and some do not fry food, pick vegetables or grind grain on this day. None of this is required. Anyone unwell should not fast without a doctor's advice.

Food

Customs vary by region: kheer, steamed sweets such as patoli (rice parcels with jaggery and coconut in turmeric leaves) in Maharashtra and the Konkan, and puffed rice and simple sweets in many homes.

For children

A big serpent called Kaliya lived in a river and made its water poisonous. Little Krishna jumped in, and the serpent wrapped around him. But Krishna wriggled free, climbed up onto the serpent's heads and danced on them. Kaliya gave up, and Krishna let him go, telling him to find a new home in the sea. The river was clean again, and the serpent was safe too. On Nag Panchami families remember that even a serpent can be spared.

Something to do together

Draw a coiled snake with many colours, or make one from a paper chain or clay. Then learn one fact about snakes with a grown-up: what they eat, and why it is best to leave a snake alone and call an adult.

Sources

• Panchang engine rule nag-panchami (packages/panchang/data/festivals.json), with its sources and the dates checked in packages/panchang/test/festivals-added.test.ts; the rule is listed in packages/panchang/KNOWN_DIFFERENCES.md §2.5.
• The Vishnu Purana, a system of Hindu mythology and tradition, translated by H. H. Wilson (London: John Murray, 1840) (Book V, Chapter VII, pp. 512–516 (leaves n610–n614))
• The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa, translated into English prose (K. M. Ganguli), published by Protap Chandra Roy: Adi Parva (Calcutta: Bharata Press, 1884) (Astika Parva, Sections L–LVIII, pp. 143–160 (leaves n176–n193))
• The Popular Religion and Folk-Lore of Northern India, by W. Crooke, new edition, vol. II (Westminster: Archibald Constable, 1896) (Nagpanchami customs of Northern India: snake figures painted on walls or drawn in sandal paste or turmeric, milk and rice at snake holes, lamps and incense (pp. 137–139, leaves n148–n150); no ploughing on the Nagpanchami, lest Shesha and Mother Earth be disturbed (p. 293, leaf n316))
• The Folklore of Bombay, by R. E. Enthoven (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1923) (Nagpanchami in the Bombay Presidency: images of cow-dung or earth or a picture on the wall, one meal, no fried dishes or picked vegetables, ant-hill worship with songs, no pounding or grinding, Nagpanchami kept in some places on the dark-half Panchami (pp. 127–128, leaves n131–n132); no digging or ploughing, and the snake deities Takshak, Vasuki and Shesha (pp. 132–133, leaves n136–n137))

Related guides

• Raksha Bandhan