Amongst many Hindu rituals and festivals, one of the important one that falls in the month of Shravan is the festival of Nag Panchami.

Amongst many Hindu rituals and festivals, one of the important one that falls in the month of Shravan is the festival of Nag Panchami. Snakes occupy a very significant space in Hindu Mythology as they are also considered to be the resident of Patal Loka or Nag Loka. The scriptures treat Snakes as a community; Mansa Devi the Snake Goddess is specially offered prayers on this day. ‪Indian mythological scriptures such as Agni Purana, Skanda Purana, Narada Purana and Mahabharata give details of history of snakes extolling worship of snakes. In the Mahabharata Janamejeya, the son of King Parikshit of Kuru dynasty was performing a snake sacrifice known as Sarpa Satra, to avenge for the death of his father from a snake bite by the snake king called Taksaka. A sacrificial fireplace had been specially erected and the fire sacrifice to kill all snakes in the world. The sacrifice was so powerful that it was causing all snakes to fall into the Yagna kunda. The priests found that only Takshaka who had bitten and killed Parisksihit had escaped to the nether world of Indra seeking his protection. Takshaka had coiled himself around Indra’s cot but the force of the sacrificial yagna was so powerful that even Indra along with Takshaka were dragged towards the fire. This scared the gods who then appealed to Manasadevi to intervene and resolve the crisis. She then requested her son Astika to go to the site to stop the Sarpa Satra yagna. Astika impressed Janamejaya with his knowledge of all the scriptures who granted him to seek a boon. It was then that Astika requested Janamejeya to stop the Sarpa Satra. The yagna was then stopped and thus the life of Indra and Takshaka and his other serpent race were spared. This day happened to be Nadivardhini Panchami (fifth day of bright fortnight of the lunar month of Shravan ) and since then the day is a festival day of the Nagas as their life was spared on this day. According to Garuda Purana offering prayers to snake on this day is auspicious and will usher good tidings in one’s life. This is to be followed by feeding Brahmins.
Another story States ~ A deadly snake Kalia had been poisoning the river Yamuna and it had become difficult for the brijwasis to drink any water. Lord Krishna, Avatar of Lord Vishnu, one day on the pretext of a ball falling down in the river has a tussle with Kalia and eventually defeats him. Kalia takes away all the poison from the river and Krishna in return blesses him that on this day of Panchami whosoever will offer milk and prayers to the snakes, will get expiated of any hardships in times to come. Thus from then onwards the day was celebrated as Nagpanchami day.
This day is also celebrated to strengthen the bonds between the brother and sister. On this day as important ritual sisters rub milk or ghee on the back, spine and navel of brothers by sisters to protect them from any hardships in times to come. Another myth that goes with the festivity is that during Samudra Manthan when Lord Shiva drank all the poison that came out from the churning of the sea, few drops did fall on the ground and were drunk by snakes. People pray to snakes so that they and their families are spared of their wrath. A snake also adorns the neck of Lord Shiva and has a lot of spiritual significance too. #TheShivaTribe If a snake adorns the neck of Shiva, then Shri Vishnu is also signified as sleeping on the bed of SheshNag a five hooded snake on whom Shri Vishnu reclines. Astrologically too, the horoscopes which are generally in the grasp of the Rahu and Ketu nodes commonly known as the Kal Sarp Dosha has a lot of importance on this day. The head of the snake is Rahu and its tail is Ketu and when the planets fall in between them they are considered to be in their grip. It is said offering a pair of snakes made in silver to the Shivlingam helps in expiating the effect of this dosha. During Nag Panchami, earthen representations of snakes are made and prayers are performed on them. Some even offer milk to live snakes in order to get their blessings.