Nag Panchami 2016

Nag Panchami falls on the Panchami (fifth tithi) of the Shukla Paksha (bright half) of Shravana, during the monsoon — usually late July or August. The exact date shifts each year with the lunar calendar; see the year's date above.

Milk is offered as naivedya to the Naga deity in worship, an act of reverence and gratitude to the serpent as protector of crops, water and fertility. Note that snakes are lactose-intolerant, so devotees and welfare traditions today offer milk to a Naga idol, image or anthill rather than forcing it on a live snake.

Many families avoid digging or ploughing the earth (to protect serpents in their burrows), frying food on a hot iron tava, and cutting or sewing — all observed as acts of ahimsa (non-injury) toward the Naga on this day.

The nine principal Nagas are invoked: Ananta (Shesha), Vasuki, Padmanabha, Kambala, Shankhapala, Dhritarashtra, Takshaka and Kaliya, among others. Shesha, Vasuki and Takshaka are the most prominent in scripture.