Revering Serpent Deity Called Naga

Siddhi B. Ranjitkar

On the fifth day of the bright fortnight of Sravon (July-August) in the Nepalese calendar, every Nepalese household pastes a printed-multi-color portrait of Serpent God called Naga on the lintel of the main entrance to the house believing the portrait of Naga protects the house from lightning and other evil elements. This day is called ‘Naga Pancami’ means the fifth day of Naga. On this day, Nepalis visit various ponds where Serpent God Naga believed to be residing in Kathmandu and elsewhere in Nepal, and make offerings of milk, holy grass ‘dubo’ and other items Serpent God Naga believed to like. Serpent God called Basuki Naga had played a crucial role in bringing a deity called Matsyandranath or Karunamaya from Kamarupa to Nepal. Naga also plays a significant role in a religious festival held in Panauti.

On the early morning of this day, the senior male member of every household takes a purification bath in a nearby river and goes around the deities there, and then comes home to perform the rituals of pasting a portrait of Naga on the lintel of a main entrance to the house. He remains fasting until he completes the pasting of a portrait of the Naga god.

One female member of the household puts together all the items required for pasting a portrait of Naga. She puts together some grains of buckwheat, a small bunch of holy grass called ‘dubo’, vermilion, cow milk and a coin on one copper platter, a pot of holy water, and a lump of fresh cow dung on a leaf.

A lady brings all the items of offerings on a platter, a holy water pot, and a lump of cow dung on one hand, and a stepstool on another to the main entrance for the patriarch to paste a Naga portrait on the lintel of the main entrance to the house. She holds all those items on a platter and a holy water pot. One of the senior male members or a patriarch or a priest (some households use the service of a priest) climbs up the stepstool, and cleans the middle part of the lintel, then takes the holy water pot from the lady, and purify the spot with the holy water, takes one lump of cow dung after another and sets four small lumps one each on four corners and another at the center of the spot making an enough space for the portrait of Naga to be pasted on. Then, he takes the paper portrait of Naga from the platter a lady has been holding on, and carefully pastes it on the five lumps of cow dung on the lintel. He takes the holy grass ‘dubo’ and sets them on the top of the Naga god portrait, and applies vermillion on the forehead of the Naga god on the portrait, offers a few grains of buckwheat, offers a coin and finally pours the cow milk on the head of the Naga god on the portrait. Then, he reads out the prayer hymn to the Naga god written on the portrait. That completes the pasting of a portrait of the Naga god on the lintel of a house done once a year.

The man pasting a Naga portrait needs to keep fasting until he completes the rituals of pasting a Naga portrait, as none of the Hindu deities accepts the offerings made by devotees after eating a meal or even drinking a tea. Eating any food or drinking any beverage except water defiles a human body according to the Hindu belief. So, Hindus keep fasting until they complete performing any religious rituals.

Hindus consider cow dung as the holiest item. So, Hindus use cow dung for making any spot a holy for any deity to set on and make offerings. Thus, cow dung being the holy item serves as the glue for pasting a portrait of the Naga god on the lintel of every Hindus house in Nepal.

A few days before this day called ‘Naga Pancami’, the Nevah art painters called chitrakars sell portraits of Naga printed in papers of various sizes in the Kathmandu Valley market to suit everyone’s pocket. So, not a single entrance has an identical Naga portrait pasted on.

A religious festival is held at the pond called Nagpokhari in Kathmandu to revere the Naga god on this day for the whole day. On the early morning of the day, a priest climbing up a ladder reaches the bronze head of the Naga deity standing at the middle of the pond. He cleans the metal head of Naga. Then, the priest offers holy water to the bronze Naga head, then holy grass ‘dubo’, vermillion, grains of buckwheat and finally cow milk, thus completes the rituals of making offerings to the Naga. Thereafter, any devotee may make offerings to the Naga deity but not climbing the ladder. So, devotees simply toss all items of offerings on the pond, and then go around the pond in reverence for the Naga deity.

Thousands of devotees visit a small lake called Taudaha about ten kilometers south of Kathmandu to revere a Naga King called Karkot on this day. He has been living there with his subjects since Manjushree drained the water from the Kathmandu Valley lake cutting a small channel at Chovar with his divine sword and making the Kathmandu Valley livable for the land creatures.

Finding Lord Manjushree drained his kingdom of lake; Naga King Karkot made an emotional appeal to Lord Manjushree for making room for his subjects and him to stay on. Showing empathy to Naga King Karkot, Lord Manjushree left the small area with water that became known as Taudaha and the abode of Naga King Karkot. Thus, Manjushree has preserved a special small pond for Karkot and his subjects to live there.

Similar festivities are held at Naga Bahal in Patan, and at Basukithan in Pashupatinath, at the Changunarayan Temple in Bhaktapur and elsewhere across Nepal from the early morning to mark the Naga pancami festival.