Nagara Panchami celebrated with fervour and devotion in Dakshina Kannada, Udupi

Nagara Panchami, the festival of serpent worship, was celebrated with fervour and devotion across Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts on Monday.

With the worship of the snake god, the Hindu festival season and Shravana Maasa began.

The festival also signifies the close connection between human beings and nature, as naga banas are believed to be treasure troves conserving the environment and serve as groundwater recharge points. With the coastal region being the abode of the serpent god, the celebration was witnessed by many prominent naga kshetras and family naga banas alike.

Campaign against plastic use

For the first time in recent years, organisations and activists launched a social media campaign and awareness drive against the use of plastic materials, including plastic bags, to carry puja materials to naga banas (sacred groves) and against leaving plastic materials in the sacred groves. The Mangaluru City Corporation (MCC) also appealed to the people to celebrate a single-use plastic-free Nagara Panchami.

Umanath Kotekar, general secretary, Ambameshwari Seva Trust, Mangaluru, told The Hindu that three teams of three members each went on an awareness drive from August 9 to August 16, requesting people not to use plastic materials for the Nagara Panchami celebrations. The drive was done in Mangaladevi, Bolara, and the Hoigebazar wards. In addition, an awareness drive was also conducted in Bykampady. The trust also placed handbills in prominent naga banas to convince people to shun the use of plastic materials during the celebration.

People throng naga kshetras

People thronged the naga kshetras, including Kukke Subrahmanya and Kudupu Anantapadmanabha temples in Dakshina Kannada, and Muchlakodu, Ulloor and other Kshetras in Udupi district, offering milk, tender coconut water, and flowers along with other puja materials to the serpent god.

Following the maha puja at noon at Kukke Subrahmanya, a prominent pilgrim centre in South India, the temple’s chief priest Seetharama Yadapadithaya offered special ksheerabhisheka, panchamrutabhisheka, siyalabhisheka, and jalabhisheka to the naga idol at the Naga Pratishtha Mantapa on the outer periphery of the temple. Devotees offered ashelesha bali, panchamruta mahabhisheka, naga pratishthe, karthika pooje, and other sevas in greater numbers than on normal days.

At the Kudupu Anantapadmanabha temple near Mangaluru, various abhishekas were performed to the serpent god at the naga bana attached to the temple after the maha puja to the presiding deity. Devotees from across the district and outside lined up to offer their sevas at the temple. Devotees rendered naga tambila and other sevas at the Naga Sannidhi in the Mangaladevi temple in the city. Celebrations were witnessed at the Mahatobhara Mahalingeshwara temple at Puttur.

Special decorations were made for Lord Subrahmanya at the Udupi Sri Krishna Mutt complex to mark the Nagara Panchami celebrations. Special abhishekas were done at Naga Sannidhis and other temples in Udupi.

Holiday

The district administrations of Dakshina Kannada and Udupi had declared a public holiday for educational institutions, government offices and private firms on Monday in view of Nagara Panchami.