aarushik's blog

I recently wrote about Naga Panchami, and also wanted to write about Garuda Panchami, since it falls on the same day - August 14 of this year! Garuda Panchami is dedicated to the worship of Garuda, the vaahanam, or vehicle, of Lord Vishnu. It celebrates Garuda’s devotion to his mother Vinathai, and as such, it also celebrates the devotion and love between mothers and their children. On this day, mothers pray for the well-being of their children, and aspire for their children to emulate Lord Garuda in his noble qualities. I happened to come across some of the comments on my Naga Panchami post, and I found it interesting that Garuda Panchami could also be observed between brothers and sisters! According to the tradition, when the brother would leave his sister at her in-laws’ home and return to the snake-infested fields, the sister would seek Nagadevata’s assistance in protecting her brother.

Many animals are revered and celebrated in India for their cultural and religious significance. We pay our respects to the cow for their key role in agriculture during Maattu Pongal, and commemorate the elephant for its divine presence during Hastimangala. Likewise, a special day this week will commemorate the Nagas, or serpents, on August 14: Naga Panchami. Celebrated in West Bengal, Maharashtra, and South India on the fifth day of the fortnight in the month of Shravan, Naga Panchami commends the serpent for controlling the rat population in fields, and for playing a role in several divine tales from the scriptures. Since the festival falls in Shravan, people customarily don’t plough or sow the earth, for it is considered inauspicious and harmful to the snakes in the earth.

Worship of the nagas traces its roots back to the Indus Valley civilization in 3000 B.C. The Indo-Aryans were said to embrace the serpent into their culture, not to mention that the serpent also found a place in Hinduism from then onwards. Moreover, there are several representations of the snake in the Puranas and other religious tales. For example, the asuras and devas used Adisesha, the lord of the snakes, as a rope to tie around the Mandara Hill. Lord Shiva drapes the snake around his neck, Lord Vishnu is represented as sleeping on Adisesha, and it is said that Adisesha protected baby Krishna with his hood when Vasudeva took the baby to Brindavana. Indeed, given the active role it has played for eons, it is no surprise that people all over pay their obeisance to the serpent. Nagapattinam in southern India is named after the serpent god, while the Ajanta caves have several representations of the snake in carvings and sculptures.

In India, people who observe Naga Panchami, perform a pooja either to a snake pit, anthill, snake sculpture, or to snake molded out of mud. People also draw Nagabandha rangolis or rangolis of the five-headed Nagadevata, the lord of the serpents.

There are many Nagabandha rangoli patterns available in the ikolam website.

Here is a recent snake rangoli, drawn by Mrs.Rajam: http://www.ikolam.com/node/14331
The basic dot grid could be found at: http://www.ikolam.com/node/14381

Sandalwood and white lotuses are also commonly used to satisfy Nagadevata. As a form of prasadam, it is common for people to prepare kheer and black sesame ladoos. It should be noted that salty and fried items are strictly prohibited on this day. Moreover, in order to protect themselves from snake-bites and other evils, people also offer silver jewelry and milk to serpents. Although the serpent has been stereotyped as an intimidating creature with supernatural powers, this mood isn’t typically brought out on Naga Panchami. Rather, people enjoy themselves on swings outdoors and sing in praise of Nagadevata. Let us also revel in our worship of the mighty serpent on this day!

Perhaps the most exciting part about going to college is moving away from home. At least from my perspective, it’s a great feeling to leave the bird’s nest after years of being in the same environment with the same people. Independence is indeed something that I’ve savored throughout my first year in college. As a college student, I now had the authority to make my own decisions, whether or not they would lead to disastrous consequences, without having to worry much about my parents’ opinions.

You are deep and mysterious like ToDi. You have an array of colours and depths. You are strongly rooted in your tradition but never hold yourself back from innovation. You are a complete package of dignity, grace, power and strength.