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PUNE, INDIA, August 20, 2004: The Indian herpetological (the branch of zoology dealing with reptiles and amphibians) society has appealed to the public not to worship live snakes and instead use wooden or glass replicas on the occasion of Nag Panchami on Friday. The society has distributed over 300 fiberglass snake icons to Ganesh mandals in the city and has urged potters to make snake icons in order to encourage Hindu devotees to worship them. Nag Panchami, or the festival of snakes, is celebrated on the 5th day of the waxing moon in the month of Shravan. It is believed that worshipping snakes brings prosperity. During Nag Panchami, snake charmers traditionally go from house to house so that people can give them money and offer worship to the snake.



They, therefore, go on a snake-trapping spree and, in order to prevent the snake from biting, they stitch the mouths of the snakes with thread. “Every year, an estimated 80,000 snakes are killed all over the country during Nag Panchami. This is mainly due to the practice of snake charmers who stitch the mouths of the snake,” said Neelimkumar Khaire, president of the society and director of the Katraj snake park here. Flies and maggots lay eggs and multiply in the open wounds caused by the stitches, and when the infection spreads to the brain, it becomes fatal, Khaire explained. Devotees have been advised not to offer kum-kum or feed the snake milk, as is the tradition. Contrary to common perception, milk does not form part of the natural diet of a snake. Snakes, therefore, develop diarrhoea on ingestion of milk, he added. As a part of its public outreach program, volunteers from Katraj snake park have been addressing school students during the last 10 days, informing them about the harmful effects of worshipping live snakes. Wooden icons will be placed at the Katraj snake park on Friday, for the benefit of devotees who wish to perform puja.

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