Nag Panchami 2027

About Nag Panchami

Serpents have long been revered in India. Vishnu rests on the great serpent Shesha, Shiva wears Vasuki around his neck, and the young Krishna is remembered for subduing the serpent Kaliya in the Yamuna and then letting him go. In the monsoon month of Shravan, when rain floods their burrows and snakes come out into fields and homes, Nag Panchami is a day of respect for them and a prayer for the wellbeing of the family.

It falls on Shravana Shukla Panchami. In the morning, images of nagas are drawn on walls or beside the door with turmeric, sandal paste, cow dung or charcoal, and are offered milk, flowers, rice and kumkum. Many people visit naga temples or offer worship at anthills, which are seen as the homes of snakes. Farmers leave the earth alone for the day, with no digging or ploughing, and some families also avoid cutting, frying or cooking on an iron griddle. Some women keep a fast for the wellbeing of their family.

The day looks different across India. In Maharashtra women sing and swing, and at Battis Shirala the festival is now kept with clay images of snakes. In Karnataka and other parts of the south, stone images of nagas under trees and at temples are bathed with milk and decorated with flowers. In Bengal and the east, Manasa, the goddess of serpents, is worshipped through the rainy season. In Gujarat many families keep Nag Pancham in the dark half of Shravan, a few days before Janmashtami.

A practical note: snakes cannot digest milk, so many families now offer milk only to images and at temples and leave wild snakes in peace, which is also kinder to them. The date follows the Panchami tithi as it falls in your city.