🐍 Nag Panchami Puja Vidhi — step by step
This is the household vidhi — the serpent drawing on the wall, milk and puffed rice, the Naga katha, the ban on iron.
How to do Nag Panchami — the steps
- Bathe in the morning; draw a serpent (the eight Nagas/five hoods) in cow dung-geru or turmeric-sandalwood on the kitchen/door wall; or a clay/silver serpent; many homes at the serpent idol of a Shiva temple.
- The vrat sankalp (women) — 'for the protection of the brother and family line, freedom from the fear of snakes'; a one-meal fast (fruit/without salt), the meal in the evening (no griddle roti — steamed/boiled — below).
- Puja: to the serpent drawing offer milk, lava (puffed paddy), durva, raw milk-water, turmeric-kumkum, flowers (kaner-jasmine), soaked chana/moong, wheat-barley; lamp and incense; the Naga stuti 'Sarve nagah priyantam me ye kechit prithivitale' and 'Om Namah Shivaya' 108 times; the katha (below).
- Shiva puja: water, milk and bel leaves on the Shivalinga; those with Kaal Sarp dosha offer a pair of silver/copper serpents on the Shivalinga, 'Om Nagendraharaya Namah'; Rudrabhishek (if possible).
- The brother's protection: the sister applies a milk-turmeric mark on the brother's back/ear (some regions), gives the brother lava and sweets; the prasad of the Naga puja to the family deity.
- Folk rules: no digging the earth today, no ploughing, no cooking on an iron griddle or kadhai, no needle-scissors-knife (if possible), no killing or troubling a snake; if a snake is seen call a snake-catcher/forest department — do not feed it milk (for the animal's sake).
- Evening: the meal — dal-baati/kheer-poori (kadhai-fried poori is allowed, not the griddle — home custom), soaked chana-jaggery; a lamp before the Naga; a night vigil in some places, swing songs (Sawan) in others.
- The next day: do not wipe off the serpent drawing on the wall — let it stay until Bhadrapada (many homes) or wash it on Shravana Purnima into water.
Puja samagri checklist
The cow dung-geru/turmeric serpent, milk-puffed rice-durva, a pair of silver serpents — the Nag Panchami list.
- For the serpent drawing: cow dung, geru, turmeric, sandalwood; or a clay/silver/copper serpent (a pair for Kaal Sarp)
- Raw milk, water, lava (puffed rice), durva, soaked chana-moong, wheat-barley, jaggery
- Turmeric, kumkum, roli, akshat, mauli, flowers (kaner-jasmine-lotus), bel leaves
- Lamp, ghee, incense, camphor, naivedya (kheer-poori-malpua-laddoo)
- Shivalinga abhishek: water-milk-bel leaves-bhasma; Rudrabhishek materials (if possible)
- Naga stotra/katha book; Manasa puja (Bengal): pot, sindoor, Manasa chali
- Meal: dal-baati/kheer/boiled and steamed dishes (no griddle)
Puffed rice and milk, soaked chana, dal-baati, kheer — a meal without the griddle
Cooking on an iron griddle or kadhai is forbidden on Nag Panchami — hence boiled, steamed or kadhai-fried dishes: dal-baati-churma (Rajasthan-MP), kheer-poori, soaked chana-moong, puffed rice-jaggery; puran poli/dinde in Maharashtra, tambittu in Karnataka, the Manasa bhog (khichdi) in Bengal.
- Lava (puffed rice) + milk + jaggery — the Naga prasad; soaked chana-moong, sprouted grains, wheat-barley
- Dal-baati-churma (baati in the tandoor/on dung cakes — not the griddle), kheer-poori, malpua (kadhai)
- Maharashtra: dinde/ukdiche modak (steamed), puran poli (many homes avoid the griddle — made the day before), varan-bhaat; Karnataka: tambittu (a laddoo of jaggery and roasted gram), kadubu (steamed)
- Bengal (Manasa puja): khichdi-labra, milk-rice; Bihar-Jharkhand: kheer-poori, lai; Gujarat: kuler (millet-jaggery laddoos — Amanta Shravana Krishna Panchami)
- Fasting fare: fruit-milk-makhana; without salt/rock salt (the women's vrat)
Rules — do's and don'ts
✅ Do
- Milk and puffed rice for the serpent drawing/clay or silver serpent — no milk for a live snake (for the animal's sake)
- Those with Kaal Sarp dosha offer a pair of serpents at a Shiva temple, Rudrabhishek
- The women's vrat — one meal, nothing on the iron griddle; the wish for the protection of the brother's line
- Hear the katha (the farmer/Astika), 'Sarve nagah priyantam me…'; Shiva puja alongside
- If a snake is seen call the forest department/snake-catcher — do not kill; protect trees and anthills
❌ Don't
- No digging the earth, ploughing, breaking anthills; no needle-scissors-knife (if possible)
- No roti/cooking on an iron griddle or kadhai; no iron vessels (folk rule)
- No paying a snake charmer to make a snake drink milk — snakes die, it is illegal
- No killing, catching or frightening snakes; no salt in the vrat (strict form) — the pregnant eat normally
- No wiping off the serpent drawing the next day (many homes keep it until Shravana Purnima)
Vrat katha
The farmer's tale: a farmer killed a she-serpent's young while ploughing; in revenge the serpent bit the farmer's family, only the daughter survived, who worshipped the Nagas daily. On Panchami the daughter pleased the s… Read the full katha →
Frequently asked questions
When is Nag Panchami in {Y}?
This year's Shravana Shukla Panchami date and puja time (Delhi) are above — morning/Abhijit is best. In some parts of Gujarat-Rajasthan it is on a Krishna Panchami — in Gujarat on Amanta Shravana Krishna (Vad) Panchami, about 15 days after the date above, after Raksha Bandhan — check the panchang there.
Is it right to give milk to a snake?
No — snakes cannot digest milk, snake charmers' snakes die from it, and it is illegal under the Wildlife Act. The scriptural milk offering to the 'Naga deity' — do it on a clay/drawn/silver serpent or the serpent on a Shivalinga; respect a live snake from a distance.
Why no roti on the griddle?
Folk belief — the iron griddle symbolises the serpent's hood, iron on fire = suffering for the serpent; hence steamed, boiled or kadhai dishes (dal-baati, poori, dinde, kheer); many homes even avoid poori-paratha on the griddle, some avoid only roti — your household custom.
How to pacify Kaal Sarp dosha on Nag Panchami?
Nag Panchami is the best day for pacifying Kaal Sarp/Rahu-Ketu — offer a pair of silver/copper serpents on the Shivalinga at a Shiva temple, Rudrabhishek, 'Om Namah Shivaya'/Mahamrityunjaya japa, the Naga stotra; special puja at Trimbakeshwar-Ujjain; first check whether the dosha exists in the chart (dosha report/priest).
Why milk on the brother's back (Karnataka)?
In Karnataka's 'Nagara Panchami' the sister pours milk and turmeric on the brother's back/navel — the Naga's protection for the brother and the wish for his children; the brother gives the sister a gift — a brother-sister festival before Raksha Bandhan.
What is Gugga Navami?
The worship of the serpent deity Gugga Pir (Gogaji) in Haryana-Punjab-Rajasthan — beginning on Nag Panchami, the main day on Bhadrapada Krishna Navami (Gugga Navami); the fair of Gogamedi (Rajasthan); sevaiyan-churma, worship of the 'chhadi' (staff); believed to protect from snakebite.
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