✅ SUMMARY
Naga Panchami is a sacred Indian festival celebrated in the month of Shravana to honor serpents, or Nagas, as divine protectors. Rooted in Hindu, Jain, and Buddhist traditions, this day is rich in legends, from Krishna’s dance on Kaliya to Astika’s saving of the serpents. Across India, devotees perform regional rituals, fast, and offer prayers for protection, fertility, and blessings. The festival highlights serpent symbolism in nature, energy, and spiritual transformation.
Naga Panchami is an Indian festival celebrated on the fifth day (Panchami) of the bright fortnight (Shukla Paksha) during the month of Shravana (July–August). Often seen as a folk festival that venerates serpents, Nag Panchami is one of the sacred days that is celebrated across religions and sects in India: Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and tribal traditions, all have their own legends and rituals related to this day.
In Indian spiritual traditions, serpents aren’t merely animals — they are considered semi-divine beings. Known as Nagas, they are guardians of the underworld (Nagaloka), custodians of natural elements, and often linked to the energy of Kundalini Shakti — the coiled spiritual force at the base of the spine in yogic belief.
This unique festival that welcomes, feeds, and thanks snakes for being protectors of agriculture and guardians of people is connected to the reverence of snakes as symbols of power, fertility, death, regeneration, and inner wisdom.
In ancient Indian tradition, Nagas are more than serpents— they are semi-divine beings who lived in Pataal loka and Nagaloka. Nagas were powerful creatures- kings and devotees of gods and goddesses, who were worshipped independently and alongside deities.
In Sanskrit, Naga means “serpent,” but the word carries deeper spiritual connotations. Nagas are described in Vedic texts, Puranas, epics like the Mahabharata, and found in tribal, Jain, and Buddhist lore. Literature and oral lore across India preserve stories where Nagas became the protectors of people, givers of hidden treasures, and played an important role in the cosmic drama.
The sacred festival of Naga Panchami is deeply intertwined with stories that span Puranic, epic, and folk traditions. The popularity of Nagas as aspects of the divine is most beautifully represented through the sacred stories of the birth of Nagas and Naga Panchami.
According to the Mahabharata and various Puranas:
✔️Kashyapa, a revered sage and son of Prajapati (the Creator), had many wives.
✔️Kadru, one of his wives, gave birth to the race of Nagas — the serpents.
✔️Her sister Vinata gave birth to Aruna (charioteer of Surya) and Garuda, the eagle mount of Vishnu and eternal rival of the Nagas.
This origin story forms the cosmic balance: Garuda (sky) and Naga (earth/water) — natural counterparts.
One of the most beloved legends comes from the Bhagavata Purana.
✔️The poisonous serpent Kaliya had made his home in the Yamuna River, spreading death among the people and animals of Vrindavana.
✔️Krishna, as a child, leaped into the river, danced on Kaliya’s multiple hoods, and subdued him without killing — purifying the river and saving the people.
✔️This episode, called Kaliya Mardan, is celebrated through art and ritual on Naga Panchami.
🔹 Here, the serpent symbolizes toxic forces — both external and internal — and Krishna’s dance represents divine mastery over fear and illusion.
Another story comes from the Hindu epic Mahabharata, where Janamejaya, the son of King Parikshit, takes the vow to annihilate all the serpents from the face of the earth, since his father had died due to the poison from the snakebite of Takshaka. He performed a great Yagya, which pulled serpents from every direction into the sacrificial fire.
Astika, who is himself half Naga, intervened in this Sarpa Satra (serpent sacrifice), and the Nagas were spared.
One of the first beings to be worshipped in ancient India was are Nagas. Their images, idols, paintings, and even serpents themselves are revered with various rituals in almost every corner of India, underlining their prominence among communities, tribes, and societies that lived and are living in the country.
Snakes or Naga Devata are worshipped in northern India, especially in rural households where images of serpents are drawn on walls or floors using geru (red ochre) and cow dung and rice, milk, and other ritual articles are offered. These images hold power and are meant to protect the residents of the home from snake poison as well as pray for health, wealth, and auspiciousness from the serpent deities.
In villages of western India, women offer milk to ant-hills, which are usually where serpents reside. In Gujarat, Nag Panchami is associated with the belief that snakes are protectors of crops, and rituals are agricultural in character. This association of snakes with the protection of the fields is not limited to western India.
Nagas are an integral part of regional traditions in Southern India. Naga Sthanam or Sarpa kavu or Naga Banna (home of serpents, in Kerala) are worshipped by locals for the blessings of progeny, health, and money.
In Kerala, snake groves form a part of ancestral land, where special rituals such as Sarpabali (to remove the negative effect of Kaal Sarpa Dosha), Sarpam Thullal (for seeking blessings of Naga Devata,) and Ayilya Puja (celebrated monthly for Nagaraja and Nagayakshi) are performed. Married women fast and pray for children and family welfare, especially in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.
The worship of Nagas is a part of the primordial traditions of India, which is why not just Hinduism but Buddhism and Jainism give them a place in their festivals and rituals.
In early Buddhist legends, the Naga Mucalinda protects the meditating Buddha from a storm by coiling around him and spreading his hood. This story is narrated in Buddhism to establish a connection between the Nagas and the Buddha.
Nagas are considered protectors of the Dharma and sacred lakes, particularly in Tibetan and Southeast Asian traditions. Several shrines in Bodh Gaya and Buddhist temples across Southeast Asia have images of Nagas, which are offered milk and sweets by devotees.
Jain texts refer to Nagas as Yaksha deities and guardian spirits. Parshvanatha, the 23rd Tirthankara, is often depicted with a canopy of serpents- he is said to have been protected by a Naga named Dharnendra. Jain temples have serpent motifs at doorways and thresholds as guardians.
In Indian culture, the serpent is a potent symbol, associated with Shiva, Vishnu, the goddess, and Tantric traditions as well as Buddha, Tirthankaras, and other divine beings.
Protection: They are gatekeepers of treasures, temples, and rivers.
Fertility and Rain: Their movement is associated with the life-giving monsoon. Offerings during Shrvana seek to ensure agrarian abundance.
Immortality and Rebirth: Like the serpent shedding its skin, Nagas represent cycles of transformation.
Kundalini Energy: In yogic traditions, the coiled serpent at the base of the spine represents spiritual energy, inactive but present, which is often awakened by Yoga and the benevolence of the Ishta.
Naga worship is a living tradition, one that traces its origin from the beginning of civilisation in Indian. The earliest archeological sources from the Indus Valley carry images of serpents, which, according to many, is a sign of snake worship. The cult of Nagas continues in several tribal and Dravidian traditions, which worship the serpents as protectors, ancestors, and gods.
Serpent groves have been mentioned in the Sangam literature of Tamil Nadu as well, in which the snakes are worshipped as the guardians of the land and bestowers of fertility and abundance.
In the art and architecture of India as well, the image of serpents has been found from the earliest structures. Serpent stones have been discovered from stupas and temples of Nagarjunconda and Mathura, dating back to the 2nd-4th century CE.
Nagas, for a long time, have been associated with fertility, and in several cultures, women perform Puja and vrat for their blessings to get offspring and long life for their husbands. Snake’s natural ability to revitalise their body is one of the main reasons why they are believed to possess the power of giving life to humans.
From the Adishesha who shades Vishnu in Kshirasagara to the Vasuki serpent adorning Shiva’s neck, Nagas is an integral part of the divine iconography of India. Every major deity in some manner is linked to the Nagas through a legend, underlining the place the serpents hold in the country’s devotional practices. However, in every context, the Naga represents a unique virtue or a power of the god and goddess.
Shiva, shaded by Vasuki, is one of the most popular iconographies of Nagas in Indian tradition. Vasuki, the king of serpents, was also the rope used in the Samudra Manthana and eternally stays with Shiva as a symbol of victory over death.
Kaliya Krishna is another famed image involving the serpent Kaliya, who lived in the Yamuna River and was a menace to the people of Vrindavana, only to be defeated by Krishna, who performed a beautiful dance, commemorated through Kaliya-Mardan sculptures. Here, the serpent represents ignorance, death, and its fear, which is removed by the supreme lord.
Mariamman, the mother goddess worshipped in parts of Southern India in her idols, is accompanied by a five-hooded serpent as her royal umbrella (chattra). In the imagery of Mariamman, the five-hooded serpent represents a black cobara that, according to her legends, was a form taken by Mariamman as she appeared in front of her devotees.
The serpent Muchalinda, with Buddha in his iconography, is the king of serpents whose story is recorded in Buddhist legends. During Buddha’s austerities, Muchalina protected Gautama, and his selfless service became a popular legend, which celebrates the role of Nagas as the guardians of Dhamma.
In Yoga and Tantra, Ganesha with the serpent is a profound representation of the Kundalini Jagaran. Ganesha himself is the Lord of Muladhara, or the root chakra, and without his blessings, there can be no auspicious beginning for the yogic practitioner.
The 23rd Tirthankara Parshvanatha was protected from a storm by a Naga Dharanaendra, who is represented as a five-hooded serpent, standing behind the Jina. Due to his association with the Jina, the entire race of Nagas, much like in Buddhism, is revered and respected in Jainism.
A swaying serpent in the sculptures of Nataraja- Shiva as the Lord of dance represents the Kundalini Shakti wrapped around the arm of Mahadeva.
Sage Patanjali, the incarnation of Adishesha and the progenitor of Ayurveda and Yoga, is depicted as half-serpent, half-human in his idols, a representation of his form as the cosmic serpent.
Nag Kanyas are a part of ancient temple iconography, included in modern decor as bringers of fertility, auspiciousness, and abundance. Images of Naga Kanya holding a conch are popular in Vastu, Feng Shui, and decor, a symbol of the hidden wealth that they are believed to reveal and bestow.
A pair of entwined serpents is one of the oldest iconographies, not just in Indian temples and shrines but across the world. In Indian tradition, the pair of serpents represents the energies- of the Sun and the Moon, the masculine and feminine, the Ida and Pingla Nadi in the human body, which is at the core of Yoga and Tantra.
Fasting on Naga Panchami is a part of the rituals followed on this day. It is done to seek blessings and forgiveness from the Nagas (if they were harmed unknowingly by us, or if one has a Sarpa Dosha in their Kundali). It is believed that by fasting on this day, one gets the blessing of longevity and abundance and is never harmed by the poison of a serpent.
The Sarpa-satra of Janmejaya was mentioned earlier. At the request of Astika, this serpent sacrifice was finally stopped on the day of Naga Panchami or Shravana Shukla Panchami. It marks the end of animosity between humans and serpents and the beginning of a relationship of protection, respect, and reverence. To remember the role Nagas, play in nature, as guardians of fields, and to seek their blessings, the festival of Naga Panchami is celebrated.
Fasting, puja of Nagas, dana, and yagya take place on this occasion. The festivities are an annual reminder of what Krishna said in the Gita- “Among serpents, I am Ananta”. It is a nod to Shesha, who carries the weight of the world on its hood, residing in the netherworld, unshakable and eternal. It is a bow to the often unseen and overlooked creatures, the Nagas, whose movements are the movement of time, whose coils are the innate Kundalini and whose hood is the umbrella of the god.
Naga Panchami stands as a powerful celebration of the mysteries of life, the forces of nature, and the respect due to even the most misunderstood creatures. Whether drawn from mythology, observed in ritual, or honored through art, the serpent continues to wind through the spiritual soul of India — revered as protector, purifier, and the keeper of hidden wisdom.
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