Snakes,and specially the deadly cobra, have been worshipped in India for thousands of years. Even now serpent worship in one from or another prevails in many parts of the country . on the fifth day of the Hindu month of Shravana, comes the festival of Nag Panchami. On this day processions of snake images are seen at many places; crowds gather at temples to offer milk of the snake-god ,snake-charmers go form door to door dis playing their cobras and collecting money.
the most dramatic ceremonies take place in the small village of Shirala,about 400 kilometres south of Bombay. In this village people use live snakes.Her catching snakes is a do-it-yourself business and people worship only the cobras they themselves capture.
Two weeks before Nagpanchmi, Shirala begins to have a deserted look. Most men-farmers,shopkeeper,postmen- take a holiday and spend their time saerching out cobras in the hills and fields near Shirala.Armed only with spades,bamboo sticks and clay pots,they lok for faint tracks made by snakes.Often the tracks lead to holes in the ground which may harbour snakes.
The men can tell by the traces on the ground at the entrance of a burrow if a snake has gone in recently.One way to get the cobra out is to dangle cockroaches or baby frogs before the hole.If this does not work,two men start digging while the thirde keps watch with a bamboo stick ready in his hand.If there is a cobra inside the hole,if may come out hissing,its long,forked tongue flickering angrily.The man with the stick quick,but gently,pins the cobra's head to the ground,then life it up by the tail and deftly coils into a clay pot.
Snakes,and specially the deadly cobra, have been worshipped in India for thousands of years. Even now serpent worship in one from or another prevails in many parts of the country . on the fifth day of the Hindu month of Shravana, comes the festival of Nag Panchami. On this day processions of snake images are seen at many places; crowds gather at temples to offer milk of the snake-god ,snake-charmers go form door to door dis playing their cobras and collecting money.the most dramatic ceremonies take place in the small village of Shirala,about 400 kilometres south of Bombay. In this village people use live snakes.Her catching snakes is a do-it-yourself business and people worship only the cobras they themselves capture.Two weeks before Nagpanchmi, Shirala begins to have a deserted look. Most men-farmers,shopkeeper,postmen- take a holiday and spend their time saerching out cobras in the hills and fields near Shirala.Armed only with spades,bamboo sticks and clay pots,they lok for faint tracks made by snakes.Often the tracks lead to holes in the ground which may harbour snakes.The men can tell by the traces on the ground at the entrance of a burrow if a snake has gone in recently.One way to get the cobra out is to dangle cockroaches or baby frogs before the hole.If this does not work,two men start digging while the thirde keps watch with a bamboo stick ready in his hand.If there is a cobra inside the hole,if may come out hissing,its long,forked tongue flickering angrily.The man with the stick quick,but gently,pins the cobra's head to the ground,then life it up by the tail and deftly coils into a clay pot.
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