Photo: Bijay Chaurasia, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Nag Panchami is the day of the serpent deities (nags). It falls on the fifth day of the bright fortnight (Shukla Panchami) of lunar Shrawan. In 2083 it falls on Bhadra 1 (August 17, 2026), the day after the solar month of Shrawan ends. On this morning, Nepali households paste a printed image of coiled serpents above the main door, fix it with cow-dung paste and put red tika on each hood. The date moves each year with the lunar calendar. The holidays calendar gives this year's date, and the daily panchang shows the tithi day by day.
Who the nags are
In Hindu belief the nags are semi-divine serpents who control water: rain, springs, ponds and the water under the ground. Vasuki, the king of the nags, was the rope the gods used to churn the ocean, and he is coiled around Shiva's neck. Shesha carries Vishnu on his coils. In households the belief is simpler: the nags guard the family's water and the ground the house stands on, and they are worshipped once a year.
The Kathmandu lake legend
Kathmandu valley has its own reason to observe the festival. The old chronicles say the valley was once a lake that belonged to the nags. Manjushree cut the gorge at Chobhar, the water drained out, and the nags lost their home. The towns were then built on their land, so, according to the legend, the people of the valley owe them worship every year.
The main local sites are Nag Pokhari in Naxal, Kathmandu, and Taudaha lake near Chobhar. The nag king Karkotak, who lost his home when the lake was drained, is said to live in Taudaha. Worshippers still go there on Nag Panchami morning, and people are discouraged from fishing in the lake all year.
How the nag panchami puja is done
The household puja is short:
Paste the nag image above the main door. Tradition says to use cow dung. In city flats most people now use tape.
Put tika and flowers on the image, and offer milk and dubo grass. Some families add a coin or barley.
Some families draw a nag on the wall with rice-flour paste instead of buying a print.
The prayers ask for protection from snakebite, lightning and fire, and for rain on time. Nag Panchami falls in the middle of the monsoon, when a farming family's harvest depends on the rain.
Milk offerings in this festival are devotional offerings to the serpent deity. Keep them at the household shrine or image according to your custom; do not place food at a wild snake’s hole, handle a snake, or try to feed one. The ritual does not require contact with a live animal.
Where to see bigger celebrations
Nag Pokhari in Naxal has a tall gilded nag standing in the middle of the pond, and worshippers come all morning. Taudaha gets the largest Nag Panchami crowds in the valley.
In Bhaktapur and the older Newar towns the day is more important, because many of the old stone water spouts (dhunge dhara) and ponds are carved with nag figures. In the Terai, fairs are held at serpent shrines. Snakebite is a bigger risk on the plains than in the hills during the monsoon, which is one reason the day is widely kept there.
Why the festival is still kept
Nag Panchami has practical reasons behind it. The monsoon is snakebite season. Floodwater pushes snakes into fields, courtyards and houses. Nepal records thousands of snakebites every year, most of them in the Terai between June and September. The festival falls at the height of that season, and the image over the door works as a prayer and as a yearly reminder to watch out for snakes.
It is also easy to observe. There is no fast, no long ceremony and no cost beyond a cheap print. Of the Shrawan observances, Nag Panchami takes the least time and money, so many families who have dropped longer rituals still keep it.
Practical notes
Buy the nag print a day or two early from a puja shop.
Put it up in the morning after bathing.
Offer what you have. Milk and a flower are enough.
Leave the image up for the whole year. Take the old print down when you put up the new one.
If you are going to Taudaha or Nag Pokhari, go before mid-morning. Both are small sites and get crowded quickly.
In a wet monsoon, watch where you step in fields and grass, especially in the Terai.