Nagula Chavithi Telugu

Nagula Chavithi is a significant and religious festival of South India, celebrated with devotion and reverence every year on the Chaturthi Tithi (fourth day) that follows Amavasya (new moon day) in the month of Kartika. This festival is similar to Nag Panchami, celebrated in North India, where serpents are worshipped. On this day, married women observe a fast and worship snake deities, praying for the well-being and prosperity of their families, especially for the long life and good health of their children.

Farmers celebrate this festival with great enthusiasm, as snakes are considered sacred due to their important role in agriculture. During the winter, when snakes come out of their burrows and prey on rats, they help protect the crops. For this reason, farmers express their gratitude to the snake deities. Snakes not only control the population of rats, which can damage crops, but they also contribute to maintaining soil fertility. Therefore, farmers worship snakes with devotion and reverence to ensure the prosperity and safety of their crops.

Nagula Chavithi Puja Procedure

There is no specific ritual for performing Nagula Chavithi Puja, but it is traditionally done in a simple and devotional manner. After bathing in the morning and wearing clean clothes, set up an idol or picture of the snake deity. Then, offer cow's milk, flowers, turmeric, kumkum, sesame laddus, and other offerings to the snake deity with reverence. Take a vow (sankalpa) and pray for the well-being, prosperity of the family, and long life of the children. The offerings are then placed near snake burrows. After the worship, observe the fast and distribute the prasad, while also seeking the blessings of the snake deity.

Story

Daksha’s daughter Kadru was married to Sage Kashyap. Pleased with her service, Sage Kashyap asked her to request a boon, and Kadru asked for the blessing of a hundred sons. As a result, she was blessed with a hundred serpent sons.

Once, during the churning of the ocean, a white horse emerged. Upon seeing the horse, Kadru told her co-wife Vinata that although the horse was beautiful, it was not entirely white—its tail had black hair. Vinata disagreed, saying that the horse was completely white, including its tail. This led to a debate between the two. Kadru then proposed a wager: if she could prove the horse's hair was black, Vinata would become her servant, and if the hair turned out to be white, Kadru would become Vinata’s servant. Vinata agreed to this wager.

However, Kadru’s mind was filled with deceit. She instructed her serpent sons to shrink in size and sit on the horse's tail to make it appear black. Upon hearing this, her sons objected, saying that it was against dharma (righteousness) and they could not comply with such a dishonest act. Enraged by their disobedience, Kadru cursed her sons, declaring that in the future, they would be destroyed in a snake sacrifice conducted by a king named Janamejaya, a descendant of the Pandavas.

Frightened by this curse, the serpents went to Lord Brahma, who comforted them by saying that in the future, a king named Jaratkaru would marry their sister. From this union, a son named Astika would be born, and he would stop Janamejaya’s snake sacrifice and save them.

In time, this prophecy came true. When King Janamejaya discovered that serpents were responsible for his ancestors' deaths, he vowed to exterminate the serpent race and began a snake sacrifice. When Astika, the nephew of the serpents, learned of the peril his maternal uncles were in, he went to the site of the sacrifice and successfully stopped it.

Thus, Astika ended the snake sacrifice, freeing the serpents from their fear and ensuring their protection. From that day onward, this occasion has been celebrated as Nagula Chavithi , a festival dedicated to the protection and reverence of serpents.

On this day, images of serpents such as Sheshnag, Takshak Nag, Vasuki Nag, and others are drawn on the wall, and turmeric, rice grains, vermilion, and flowers are offered to them in worship. Ghee is mixed with raw milk, and this offering is made while remembering the snake deities. Women who worship the serpents with full devotion on this day ensure that their family is free from the fear of snakes. Additionally, the blessings of Lord Shiva, Lord Vishnu, and the snake deities always remain with them. When a household receives the grace of these three deities, sorrow never resides in that home, and there is always abundance of happiness and wealth.

Related topics-

• Nag Panchami
• Nag Pancham