Nag Panchami A mix of faith and superstition

NAGPUR The myths may have been busted and laws grown more stringent, but worship of snakes on the fifth day of Shravan month remains mandatory for the believers. The reason for this is that snakes occupy a very significant space in Hindu mythology. The scriptures treat snakes as a community as there is a mention of nag lok, says astrologer and economist KapilChandrayan. Being residents of patallok they are considered to be part of shrishti and have been worshipped by Hindus for protection of their kul (family), he adds. Being part of the ornamentation of Shiv who is extensively worshipped in the month of Shravan, snakes are also worshipped during the sarvaangpuja offered during this period.But most significantly worship of snakes gets prominence in modern astrology because they are considered as rahu and ketu. The head of a snake is rahu and the tail ketu. If all other planets are caught between the head and the tail in a horoscope then it is termed as kaal sarp yog, says Chandrayan and adds that Nag Panchami is the most significant day for performing a kalsarp yog puja.