PANAJI
The first festival in the month of Shravan, Nagpanchami is devoted to the worship of snakes in rural as well as urban India. In Goa too the festival is celebrated with great devotion. Those in the cities either draw a picture of a snake on a piece of paper or keep a clay idol of the snake and do the puja.
Snakes are said to be coexisting with human beings on the planet, it is to show respect to the species. It is a misconception that snakes are harmful and attack human beings. In fact, no snake comes and bites a human being; it is we, the human being who intrude into their spaces, disrupting their lives.
“The festival of Nagpanchami symbolises ecological balance and nurtures a bond between the farmers and snakes. The months of July to August are known as the breeding period of snakes, fish and various other creatures on earth. It is to remember this and to respect the reptiles that a snake is being worshipped in this period,” states Vikas Kulkarni, an animal lover.
In India, around 45000 people die of snake bites which, indeed is alarming. But does the snake come on its own to bite the humans or are all snakes waiting to attack the humans? It is only when we trespass into their territory that they become fearful and aggressive and to protect their own lives, attack the humans.
In India, we have more than 300 species of snakes. Out of these 60 are poisonous and out of these 60, barring 25 sea snakes and very few land snakes that are lightly poisonous, only a handful are very poisonous. Cobra (Nag), Manyar, Ghonas and Furase are scientifically four important species and if they bite, there is a danger to human life. These four species are found near human settlements.
