Nag Panchami

Significance and Story

Nag Panchami (नाग पंचमी) is the day set aside for the worship of the Nagas — the serpent beings of Hindu tradition. It falls on Shravana Shukla Panchami, the fifth tithi of the bright fortnight of Shravana, and it is observed across India, with particular prominence in Maharashtra.

The observance itself is simple to describe: serpent worship. What that means in practice varies from household to household and from region to region, but the intent is consistent — to honour the Nagas as a class of beings worthy of respect, and to seek their goodwill rather than their displeasure.

Shravana is a month of intensified religious attention in the Hindu year, and Nag Panchami sits within it as a day given over to one specific family of deities. Readers who keep other Shravana observances will find that the month's rhythm accommodates this day rather than competing with it.

How the Date Is Fixed

Nag Panchami is tied to the tithi, not to a fixed Gregorian date. It is observed on Shravana Shukla Panchami, and the Gregorian date on which that tithi falls is computed each year from the panchang. The dates shown on this page come from that computation; they are not fixed by convention.

Because the tithi is determined by the positions of the sun and moon as seen from a given place, the date can shift. Three things commonly cause a one-day difference between calendars:

• Location. Festival dates follow the tithi, nakshatra or solar ingress at a place. A tithi that is current at sunrise in one city may not be current at sunrise in another, so the observance can fall on different days in different cities.
• Calendar system. The amanta and purnimanta reckonings of the lunar month do not always assign the same Gregorian day to the same tithi.
• Ayanamsha and convention. Different panchangs may use slightly different parameters or decide differently which moment of the day governs the observance.

The dates given on this page are computed for New Delhi sunrise with Lahiri ayanamsha. Readers outside Delhi, or those who follow a family or regional panchang, should treat the listed date as a reference point and confirm with their own local calendar. This is a normal feature of Hindu festival dating, not an error in any one calendar.

Puja Vidhi

The core of the day is serpent worship — the honouring of the Nagas as deities. Traditions differ on the details, and there is no single vidhi that all communities follow. What is common is that the worship is directed to the Nagas, and that it is performed with restraint and respect rather than with elaborate display.

Households and temples that observe the day typically do so in the manner handed down in their own family or region. Where a family has a customary procedure, that procedure takes precedence over any general description. Readers who are unsure of their own family's practice may reasonably ask an elder, or consult a qualified jyotishi or family priest for guidance suited to their circumstances.

Because the observance is tied to the tithi, the timing of the puja follows the panchang for the day rather than a fixed clock hour. The muhurat shown on this page is computed for New Delhi; elsewhere it will differ.

Regional Variations

Nag Panchami is observed pan-India, with particular prominence in Maharashtra. Beyond that broad statement, practice varies.

• Maharashtra. The day is especially prominent here, and is among the observances most closely associated with the state.
• Elsewhere in India. The festival is kept across the country, but the form it takes — household, temple, or community — differs by region and by community.
• Calendar reckoning. Amanta and purnimanta households may mark the day on different Gregorian dates, as noted above.
• Diaspora. Hindu communities outside India generally follow the panchang of their region of origin or a major Indian city, so their date may differ from the Delhi-based dates listed here.

Where traditions differ, this page states the difference rather than choosing one as correct. A reader whose family or temple keeps a different date is not necessarily observing it wrongly.

What to Avoid

A few cautions, offered as guidance rather than rule:

• Do not treat the listed date as universal. It is computed for New Delhi sunrise with Lahiri ayanamsha. Confirm against your local panchang if the date matters to your observance.
• Do not expect the panchang to predict personal outcomes. This page describes a festival and its timing. It makes no claims about health, wealth, marriage, or any other personal matter, and none should be read into it.
• Do not substitute this page for personal guidance. For questions about your own chart or your family's customary observance, consult a qualified jyotishi or your family priest.
• Do not treat regional difference as error. Where Smarta and Vaishnava practice, or North and South Indian custom, or amanta and purnimanta reckoning differ, both are legitimate within their own tradition.

Kept with attention to the tithi and to one's own family custom, Nag Panchami remains what it has long been: a day of respect for the Nagas, observed across India and, increasingly, wherever Hindu families have settled.