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NAG PANCHAMI-- THE DAY DEIDICATED
TO NAGDEVTA
Nag-Panchami is an important all-India festival
and is celebrated on the fifth day of the moonlit-fortnight in
the month of Shravan (July /August). This is the time when
serpents invariably come out of their holes that get inundated
with rain-water to seek shelter in gardens and many times in
houses. As such they pose a great danger to man. May be
therefore, snakes are worshiped on this day. Right from the
times when mankind started acquiring some sort of culture, Sun
and Snake have been invoked with prayers and ritual worship in
most of the countries. In India even before the Vedic times,
the tradition of snake-worship was in vogue.
In ancient
India, there lived a clan by the name of "NAGAS" whose culture
was highly developed. The Indus Valley civilisation of 3000
B.C. gives ample proof of the popularity of snake-worship
amongst the Nagas, whose culture was fairly wide-spread in
India even before the Aryans came. After the Naga culture got
incorporated into Hinduism, the Indo-Aryans themselves
accepted many of the snake deities of the Nagas in their
pantheon and some of them even enjoyed a pride of place in the
Puranic Hinduism. The prominent Cobra snakes mentioned in the
Puranas are Anant, Vasuki, Shesh, Padma, Kanwal, Karkotak,
Kalia, Aswatar, Takshak, Sankhpal, Dhritarashtra and Pingal.
Some historians state that these were not snakes but Naga
Kings of various regions with immerse power.
The
thousand-headed Shesh Nag who symbolises Eternity is the couch
of Lord Vishnu. It is on this couch that the Lord reclines
between the time of the dissolution of one Universe and
creation of another. Hindus believe in the immortality of the
snake because of its habit of sloughing its skin. As such
Eternity in Hinduism is often represented by a serpent eating
its own tail.
In Jainism and Buddhism snake is regarded as
sacred having divine qualities. It is believed that a Cobra
snake saved the life of Buddha and another protected the Jain
Muni Parshwanath. To-day as an evidence of this belief, we
find a huge serpent carved above the head of the statue of
Muni Parshwanath. In medieval India figures of snakes were
carved or painted on the walls of many Hindu temples. In the
carves at Ajanta images of the rituals of snake worship are
found. Kautilya, in his "Arthashastra" has given detailed
description of the cobra snakes.
Fascinating,
frightening, sleek and virtually death-less, the cobra snake
has always held a peculiar charm of its own since the time
when man and snake confronted each other. As the cobra
unfolded its qualities, extra-ordinary legends grew around it
enveloping it in the garble of divinity. Most of these legends
are in relation with Lord Vishnu, Shiv and
Subramanyam.
The most popular legend is about Lord
Krishna when he was just a young boy. When playing the game of
throwing the ball with his cowherd friends, the legend goes to
tell how the ball fell into Yamuna river and how Krishna
vanquished Kalia Serpent and saved the people from drinking
the poisonous water by forcing Kalia to go away.
It is
an age-old religious belief that serpents are loved and
blessed by Lord Shiv. May be therefore, he always wears them
as ornamentation around his neck. Most of the festivals that
fall in the month of Shravan are celebrated in honour of Lord
Shiv, whose blessings are sought by devotees, and along with
the Lord, snakes are also worshiped. Particularly on the
Nag-Panchami day live cobras or their pictures are revered and
religious rights are performed to seek their good will. To
seek immunity from snake bites, they are bathed with milk,
haldi-kumkum is sprinkled on their heads and milk and rice are
offered as "naivedya". The Brahmin who is called to do the
religious ritual is given "dakshina" in silver or gold coins
some times, even a cow is given away as gift.
In
Bengal and parts of Assam and Orissa the blessings of Mansa,
the queen of serpents are sought by offering her all the
religious adoration. Protection from the harmful influence of
snakes is sought through the worship of Mansa who rules
supreme over the entire clan of serpents. On this occasion
snake-charmers are also requisitioned to invoke the Snake
Queen by playing lilting and melodious tunes on their
flutes.
In Punjab Nag-Panchami is known by the name of
"Guga-Navami". A huge snake is shaped from dough, which is
kneaded from the contribution of flour and butter from every
household. The dough-snake is then placed on a winnowing
basket and taken round the village in a colourful procession
in which women and children sing and dance and onlookers
shower flowers. When the procession reaches the main square of
the village all the religious rites are performed to invoke
the blessings of the snake god and then the dough snake is
ceremoniously buried.
In Maharashtra, Hindu women take
an early bath wear their "nav-vari" - nine yards-sarees, put
on ornaments and get ready for the "puja" of Nag-Devata. Snake
charmers are seen sitting by the roadsides or moving about
from one place to another with their baskets that hold
dangerous snakes that are their pets. While playing the
lingering melodious notes on their flutes, they beckon
devotees with their calls -"Nagoba-la dudh de Mayi" (give milk
to the Cobra Oh Mother!) On hearing that call, women come out
of their houses and then the snake-charmers take out of the
snakes from their baskets. Women sprinkle haldi-kumkum and
flowers on the heads of the snakes and offer sweetened milk to
the snakes and pray. Cash and old clothes are also given to
the snake-charmers. Bowls of milk are also placed at the
places which are likely haunts of the
snakes.
Elderly women draw pictures of five-headed
cobras on wooden planks, recite mantras and pray. The
daughters wash the eyes of their fathers with rose flowers
dipped in milk and then receive gifts from their fathers. In
Hindu homes frying any thing on this day is forbidden by
tradition.
The most fantastic celebrations of Nag-Panchami
are seen in the village of Baltis Shirale which is 70
Kilometres from Sangli and 400 Kilometres from Mumbai. There
people pray to live cobras that they catch on the eve of this
pre-harvest festival. About a week before this festival, dig
out live snakes from holes and keep them in covered earthen
pots and these snakes are fed with rats and milk. Their
poison-containing fangs are not removed because the people of
this village believe that to hurt the snakes is sacrilegious.
Yet it is amazing that these venomous cobras do not bite
instead protect their prospective worshipers.
On the
day of the actual festival the people accompanied by
youngsters, dancing to the tune of musical band carry the pots
on their heads in a long procession to the sacred-temple of
goddess Amba and after the ritual worship the snakes are taken
out from the pots and set free in the temple courtyard. Then
every cobra is made to raise its head by swinging a
white-painted bowl, filled with pebbles in front. The Pandit
sprinkles haldi-kumkum and flowers on their raised heads.
After the puja they are offered plenty of milk and
honey.
After all the obeisance is rendered to the
goddess and the ritual puja is over, the snakes are put back
in the pots and carried in bullock-carts in procession through
the 32 hamlets of Shirala village where women eagerly await
outside their houses for "darshan" of the sacred cobras. One
or two cobras are let loose in front of each house where men
and women offer prayers, sprinkle puffed rice, flowers and
coins over them, burn camphor and agarbattis and perform
"aarti" . Girls of marriageable age regard the cobras as
blessings of good luck in marriage. Some courageous girls even
put their faces near the cobra's dangerous fangs. Behold the
wonder the cobras do not bite them!
Director of the
Madras Snake Park thoroughly examined these cobras and
confirmed that neither the fangs nor the poison had been
extracted. This truly is something so wonderful that it cannot
be possibly explained by man's rational thinking.
In
the evening the open space adjoining the temple of Amba holds
a popular fair. Pots containing the cobras are placed on an
erected platform and the lids are removed. The cobras raise
their heads and spectators look on spell-bound. Vast crowds
arrive from Kolhapur, Sanghli, Poona and even from foreign
lands to see this wonderful spectacle and enjoy in the fair.
The following day the snakes are released in the
jungle.
There is one popular legend telling how
this festival started. Once Guru Gorakhnath while passing
through his village saw a woman praying before a clay-cobra
idol. He turned it into a living snake and told her not to be
afraid of snakes. Since then this Baltis Shirale and its
neighbouring regions worship snakes. Guru Gorakhnath's temple
is on a nearby hillock.
Tribals in the interior parts of
Maharashtra perform acrobatics and magic shows on the streets.
Crowds collect around them to see and touch the snakes which
the tribals bring in their baskets to show them
off.
There are snake-temples in our country with idols
of snake-gods. In these temples cobras are also reared and
live snakes are worshipped on Nag-Panchami
day.
DOLL FESTIVAL
On the Amavasya
day after finishing the rituals, like offering `tarpana etc.
the custom is, as my friend told me, to keep the Kalash filled
with rice, toor dal haldi sticks, betel leaves and nuts or
mango leaves with a coconut on it. The most important thing is
to keep two wooden dolls specially brought from Tirupathy. The
wooden dolls are anointed with oil and bathed and decorated as
bride and groom. The right muhurtam is chosen before placing
the Kalash and the dolls for worship, with which the Kollu
festival begins. The dolls are given to the girl from her
parents during her marriage and are called "Marapachi Bommai".
From this day she starts the ceremony of Kollu going on adding
Bommais from South. Curiosity made me ask my friend the
meaning of `Marapachi' to which she explained that Marapachi
meant a special kind of wood which has medicinal value too and
Bommai meant dolls.
Bommai means dolls and Kollu means
displaying. This is done by constructing wide tiers or steps
in any number, maximum being seven. The number of tiers or
steps should be in even numbers, like, one, three, five and so
on. One can erect nine steps too if space and time permits.
Variety of dolls are displayed artistically and arranged
beautifully on the steps.
From the day the married
girl gets the Marapachi Bommai she starts collecting dolls and
observes the ceremony annually. The clay dolls displayed are
mostly from mythological characters. All Gods and Goddesses of
our Epics and Puranas are displayed on the tiers which are
beautifully decorated and look spectacular and colourful. for
example, `Garuda Vahana' i.e. God Narayan taken in Garuda
Vahan or vehicle is kept. One of the items exhibited is the
Marriage Set called `Malam Talam' i.e. the marriage procession
of relations and friends led by musical players of clarionet
(malam) and mridangam (talam). Then there, is the `Dashavatar'
set episodes from Ramayana and Krishna Leela. I was told, one
can add more dolls but should not decrease the number. The
festival lasts for nine days with arti, prayers Prasad daily
mornings and evenings. My friend quipped with a gleam in her
eyes "This is a must for a married lady and, especially if one
has a daughter you do it more elaborately and with enthusiasm
so that you can dress her up gorgeously!"
During these nine
days ladies are invited and offered haldi kumku with betel
leaves with huts and fruits. In the morning sweets and evening
`chundals' i.e. different chanas are offered to the ladies.
Kollu festival days are for rejoicing when ladies dress up in
their finery and ornaments and find an opt occasion to dress
up specially their daughters.
On the ninth day, the
day before the Vijay Dasami day, the tenth day of the Dussera,
falls the Saraswati Puja. Goddess Saraswati is the Goddess of
Learning and as such books musical instruments etc., are
decorated with flowers and worshipped. Vijay Dasami or the
Dussera Day, the last tenth day is the auspicious day when all
fine arts like, dance, music, or any new venture in learning
is begun. It is the `Learners' Day. A child beginning his
first lessons of alphabets begins it today ceremoniously.
Prayers are offered to Goddess Saraswati and her blessings
sought. Token of Guru Dakshinas are also given to the
respective Gurus. During Kollu, old traditional women observe
"Valluku Anaya" Valluku meaning lamp and Anaya meaning not
going up. That is the lamp or diya once lit is continuously
kept burning for twenty-four hours for ten days. Some people
observe it even today.
On the tenth night after the
ceremonial arti and prayers the, `Marapachi' are put to sleep.
And, the next day the exhibits are packed carefully in cloth
or paper and preserved for use the next year. Vijay Dasami and
Navratri are also the auspicious time for buying new clothes
and feasting. Unlike other Vrats, there is no custom of
fasting during Navratri Kollu. As my friend admits, Navratri
Bommai Kollu is celebrated more out of enthusiasm, according
to one's space, time and purse, and more for meeting each
other and purse, and more for meeting each other and keeping
good relationship of all.
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