About Naag Wali Shradh

Naag Panchami is observed during the Hindu calendar month of Shravan. The word ‘Naag’ means snake or cobra. It is a special day of worshipping snakes by the Hindus. It is one of the most popular festivals which is celebrated with great devotion and enthusiasm. It is celebrated two days after Hariyali Teej.

Why do we celebrate Naag Panchami? There was once a king, Parikshit Ji who went hunting in the jungle. He went very far inside the jungle and started feeling thirsty. He then went to a nearby ashram. The sage in that ashram was sitting in samadhi (deep meditation). King Parikshit asked for water. But the sage who was deep in samadhi, could not hear anything as none of his sense organs were working.

King Parikshit felt insulted and humiliated, as he had the pride of being the king of entire India. He then picked up a dead snake with his bow and put it around the sage’s neck. When the sage’s sons came, they saw the dead snake around their father’s neck. “Who did this mischief? they cried out. They went into samadhi and found out that it was done by King Parikshit. They cursed Parikshit – “In one week, Takshak naag (cobra snake) will bite you and you will die. This is your punishment.” Then as the story goes, King Parikshit heard the Bhagwat from Sukhdev Paramhans. Nevertheless, Takshak bit him and he died.