Nepalese people have great respect for Nagapanchami Day which falls every year on the fifth day of bright fornight of Shrawan (July). They celebrate this day with great feelings and faith.On this particular day the serpent worship begins with the posting of colourful portraits of nagas (serpents) on the walls above the main doorways. Sweets and cereals and cow's milk are offered to the nagas and prayed for peace and prosperity.
Nagapanchami has a very ancient origin. The tradition of serpent worship seems to have originated from the Dravidian culture. So this tradition is in its basic from very non-Vedic. This reminds one of those interesting images of the nagas half human being and half snake which were discovered in the archaeological excavation carried out sometime ago in Mohenjodaro. These findings also speak a lot about the antiquity of the practice of serpent-worship. The Aryans,however, did not worship the snakes. They had always been afraid of the snakes and tried by all means to keep them away whereas the Dravidians had always felt themselves very close to them. The perfect example of this fact is the image of a Yogi flanked by two snake figures found in the same excavation mentioned above. The Vedas have very little to say in praise of serpent-gods.There is a reference about an interesting method of neutralising snake poison in the Rigveda. Taittiriya Samhita prescribes snake sacrifice for one's peace, protection and prosperity. It was only in the Puranic period that the Aryans made some rooms for the snakes in their religious functions. It is fascinating enough to note that in due course of time the Puranas started speaking very highly of the significance of the serpent-worship. And thus the tradition of serpent-worship came to be recognized as an integral part of the Vedic religion.
Nepalese people have been maintaining this tradition from time immemorial. Snakes in Nepal are generally believed to roam around in disguised form of a certain god or goddess.This is the reason why when the Nepalese people see a serpent crawling in their house they never forget to burn some incense in its honour and pray for peace. According to a very old tradition the nagas are the sole agents of the monsoon as well as of drought this remind one of a very famous Nepalese legend of Naunaga (9 very important snake)seated on which Yogi Gorkhanath performed deep penance to stop the rain for 12 long years all Over Nepal. The Nepalese people seem to worship the nagas more as the rain-god, than as any other gods. There might be several other reasons for this public sentiment. But as far as I can gather one of the main reasons for this is that Nepal has long been an agricultural country. More than 90% percent of the people here still depend on agriculture for their livelihood and the monsoon rain is still the main source of Irrigation for fanning In the situation like this, it is quite natant for the simple-minded Nepalese fanners to look forward to the nagas whom they regard as the mod Powerful water spirits. And, another reason for the same is that Kathmandu Valley has long been regarded as the legendary lake home of the nagas, Karkotak; the King of all the nagas in the Valley is still believed to be living in Taudaha lake about miles south of the Kathmandu city. It must be remembered that one of the very old names of Kathmandu Valley is Nagarhida which means the ancient abode of the nagas.These legends also seem to have influenced the observance of Nagapanchami in the Kathmandu Valley.
The Puranas have Plenty of verses devoted to the nagas. The Garuda Purana says that the worshipping of the negas on the Nagapanchami Day brings peasce and prosperity to the worshippers. The Skanda Purana also speaks almost in the same tone 'The Narad Purana says that if one offers the cow's milk to the snakes on thisday he is sunr to be safe forn snakebites for the whole year. The Bhavishya Purana assuring the aspirants says that one who worships the nagas with single-minded devotion will always be able to keep the thunder away.
In any case. the Nagapanchami Day reminds us all that the snakes by nature are poisonous and dangerous yet they are very nice and normal if we are only willirg to be kind and considerate to them Offering milk to snakes on the Nagapanchami Day conforms to a very well-known Nepalese proverb which says:
"Win the vice but always by means of virtue''.
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