Festival · The nagas, serpent deities

Nag Panchami

Worship of the nagas, the serpent deities, on the fifth day of Shravana, for protection and the wellbeing of the family.

Nag Panchami 2027: Friday 6 August 2027; New Delhi

City

For New Delhi, Friday 6 August 2027

Shukla Panchami tithi

Begins: 2:28 am
Ends: 12:23 am, 7 Aug

Sunrise: 5:45 am
Sunset: 7:09 pm
Moonrise: 9:55 am
Moonset: 9:35 pm

Worked out for your city. Panchangs can differ by a minute or so.

Full panchang for this day →

Puja times

For New Delhi, Friday 6 August 2027

Nag Panchami puja

5:45 am to 8:26 am

Panchami begins: 2:28 am
Panchami ends: 12:23 am, 7 Aug

Worked out for your city. Panchangs can differ by a minute or so.

How it is kept

Customs vary by region and family

Offer milk and flowers at a naga image
Draw or set up an image of a serpent at home
Pray for the family’s protection

What it remembers

Nag Panchami is the fifth day of the bright fortnight of Shravana, in the heart of the monsoon, when snakes are driven from their holes by the rains. The nagas, the serpent deities, are worshipped with milk, flowers and turmeric, for the protection of the family and the fields. The ground is not dug or ploughed on this day.

Krishna and Kaliya

The serpent Kaliya poisoned a pool of the Yamuna at Vrindavan until nothing could live in it. The boy Krishna dived in, fought him, and danced on his many hoods until Kaliya submitted and left the river for the sea. Tradition says this was on Shravana Shukla Panchami.

Janamejaya’s sacrifice

King Janamejaya, whose father Parikshit died of Takshaka’s bite, began a great yajna to burn every serpent in the world. The young sage Astika, born of a naga mother, came to the sacrifice and won from the king a promise to stop it, saving the serpents. It ended, the Mahabharata says, on this Panchami.

Shesha, Vasuki and the nagas of the gods

Ananta Shesha holds the worlds on his hoods and is the bed on which Vishnu sleeps; Vasuki coils at Shiva’s neck and was the rope that churned the ocean. The nagas guard the underworld and its waters and wealth, and the snakes of the fields are honoured as their kin.

The farmer’s wife and the brother naga

A folk story tells of a farmer who ploughed over a nest of young snakes and killed them; the mother snake took revenge on his family. Only his daughter, who had worshipped the nagas with milk, was spared, and the serpent became like a brother to her. Many sisters keep the Nag Panchami fast for their brothers’ safety.

Worshipping the nagas

The puja is kept in the morning, while Panchami holds. Families keep it in many ways; follow your own tradition where it differs, and leave living snakes alone: milk can harm them.

Bathe early; many fast for the day, or eat only once.
Draw a naga image at the door or on the wall with turmeric, sandalwood or cow dung, or place an image of a serpent, of silver, stone, clay or wood.
In the morning puja time, offer the naga water, milk, turmeric, kumkum, rice and flowers, and a lamp of ghee.
Offer cooked rice, kheer or milk-based sweets, and in Maharashtra and Karnataka puran or steamed sweets.
Recite the naga mantra or the names of the nine great nagas: Ananta, Vasuki, Shesha, Padmanabha, Kambala, Shankhapala, Dhritarashtra, Takshaka and Kaliya.
Visit a naga temple or an anthill, a snake’s home, and pour a little milk or water at its foot.
Do not dig the earth, plough, or cut or fry anything with a knife or on an iron griddle, in many families. Leave living snakes alone.

What you need

An image of a serpent, or turmeric and sandalwood to draw one
Milk, water, turmeric, kumkum and rice
Flowers, a ghee lamp and incense
Kheer or sweets to offer

Across India

Maharashtra

Women and girls worship naga images and anthills, swing on swings hung from trees, and in Battis Shirala snakes were once carried in procession (now done with images).

Karnataka

Nagara Panchami: anthills (huttas) and the stone nagas under trees are washed with milk and decorated; sisters pray for their brothers.

Kerala

The sacred groves (sarpa kavu) and temples like Mannarasala, where the nagas are worshipped by a family of women priests.

North India

Naga images drawn on walls; in Varanasi and Ujjain the Nagchandreshwar temple opens only on this one day of the year.

Bengal and Assam

Manasa Puja, for the snake goddess Manasa, through the monsoon months, with the story of Behula and Lakhindar sung at night.

Gujarat

Nag Pancham is kept on the fifth day of the dark fortnight of Shravana, about two weeks later, just before Janmashtami.

When it falls

Shukla Panchami of Shravana. Kept on the day this tithi holds at sunrise.

These are the usual rules. A few days can differ by a day in your tradition, so check with your temple.

Nag Panchami in the coming years

New Delhi, India time

2027Friday 6 August 2027
2028Wednesday 26 July 2028

Questions

When is Nag Panchami in 2027?

Friday 6 August 2027, in New Delhi. In a few places it can fall a day apart, so the date above is worked out for your city.

When does Nag Panchami fall?

Shukla Panchami of Shravana. Kept on the day this tithi holds at sunrise.

How is Nag Panchami kept?

Families offer milk and flowers at a naga image, draw or set up an image of a serpent at home and pray for the family’s protection. Customs vary by region and family.

Who is honoured on Nag Panchami?

The nagas, serpent deities. Worship of the nagas, the serpent deities, on the fifth day of Shravana, for protection and the wellbeing of the family.

Should milk be given to living snakes?

No. Snakes cannot digest milk, and the custom of making snakes drink it is cruel and often harms them. Offer milk to a naga image, a stone or an anthill instead, and leave living snakes alone; that is the respect the day asks for.

Why is Nag Panchami kept in the monsoon?

In Shravana the rains flood the snakes’ holes and drive them into fields and homes, the season when bites were most feared. The worship of the nagas asks for their protection, and the rule against digging leaves them undisturbed.

Is Nag Panchami the same date everywhere?

In most of India it is Shravana Shukla Panchami. Gujarat keeps Nag Pancham on Shravana Krishna Panchami, about two weeks later, and Bengal worships Manasa through the monsoon. The page follows the Shukla Panchami date.