Nagula Chaviti
నాగుల చవితి
DateFriday, 13 November 2026- Date in 2026
- Friday, 13 November 2026
- Masa
- Kartika
- Tithi
- Shukla Chavithi
- Duration
- 1 day
- Observed in
- Andhra Pradesh, Telangana
Significance
Nagula Chaviti is the serpent observance of the Telugu country, kept on the fourth tithi after Deepavali. Snakes occupy an unusual place in Indian religion: they are neither pets nor pests but a category of being — the Nagas — with their own world, their own kings, and a claim on human respect that is honoured rather than merely tolerated. The day is when that claim is acknowledged.
The practical form is direct. Households go to an anthill or to a serpent shrine and offer milk, eggs, turmeric and a preparation of sesame or jaggery, poured into the mouth of the anthill. Women keep a fast, and the observance is kept particularly for the wellbeing of children and for relief from the doshas the tradition associates with harm done to serpents — kala sarpa dosha, and the more specific charge of having destroyed a nest or killed a snake in one's line.
Underneath the ritual there is an unusually clear ecological logic, and it is worth naming. Snakes control the rodents that eat stored grain. A farming culture that wanted its granaries intact had a strong practical reason to make killing them costly, and making a thing sacred is the most durable prohibition available. The anthills fed on this day sit in and around fields.
When it falls, and why
Nagula Chaviti falls on the chaturthi — the fourth tithi — of shukla paksha in Kartika, which places it four days after Deepavali, in late October or November. Some households keep it on the panchami instead, which is Nagula Panchami; both are current in the Telugu states and neither is wrong.
It should not be confused with Naga Panchami, the north Indian and Maharashtrian serpent festival, which falls on the shukla panchami of Shravana some three months earlier. The two are distinct observances of the same subject in different regions and different months.
Pooja vidhanam, step by step
- 1
Bathe before dawn
Bathe early and wear clean clothes. Those keeping the fast take nothing before the offering is made.
- 2
Prepare the offerings
Cow's milk, turmeric, kumkum, flowers, and a preparation of sesame with jaggery — chimmili — along with cooked rice and eggs where the household offers them.
- 3
Go to the anthill or shrine
Visit an anthill (putta) or a serpent shrine, traditionally early in the morning. Many temples have a naga pratishtha for the purpose.
- 4
Offer at the anthill
Apply turmeric and kumkum around the mouth of the anthill, offer flowers, and pour milk into it. Place the chimmili and cooked rice beside it.
- 5
Light the lamp and circumambulate
Light a ghee lamp, perform arati, and circumambulate the anthill. Women pray for the wellbeing of children and for the removal of serpent-related doshas.
- 6
Recite
The Naga Stotram, the Sarpa Suktam, or the twelve names of the serpents — Ananta, Vasuki, Shesha, Padmanabha, Kambala, Shankhapala, Dhritarashtra, Takshaka, Kaliya, Karkotaka, Ashvatara and Devadatta.
- 7
Break the fast
The fast is broken after the offering, with the prasadam. Chimmili is distributed to children.
Samagri checklist
What to gather beforehand. Where something is not available, offer what you have — the intention carries.
- Cow's milk
- Turmeric and kumkum
- Sesame and jaggery, for chimmili
- Cooked rice; eggs, where the household offers them
- Flowers — especially white and yellow
- Ghee lamp, wicks, camphor, incense
- Betel leaves and nuts, coconut, fruit
- A small plate or leaf for the offerings
The vrat katha
The story most often told concerns a woman who, clearing ground, destroyed a serpent's nest and killed the young. The mother serpent, returning, followed the family and took her revenge over generations — until a daughter-in-law of the line, warned in a dream, kept the Nagula Chaviti vrata, offered milk at the anthill, and asked forgiveness. The serpent accepted the offering and the affliction ended.
A second account concerns Janamejaya, son of Parikshit. Parikshit had been killed by the serpent Takshaka, and Janamejaya undertook the sarpa satra, a sacrifice to destroy every serpent in the world. Serpents fell into the fire in their thousands until Astika — himself half-serpent — stopped it by asking the king for a boon. The story is one of the tradition's own arguments against exterminating a whole kind for the act of one.
Both kathas are unusually explicit that the fault lies with the human party, and that the remedy is acknowledgement rather than propitiation of a hostile power. What is asked for is forgiveness, and what is offered is milk.
How it differs by region
- In Andhra Pradesh and Telangana this is Nagula Chaviti, on the Kartika shukla chaturthi, and some households keep Nagula Panchami on the following tithi instead.
- In Maharashtra, Gujarat and the north the serpent festival is Naga Panchami on the Shravana shukla panchami, roughly three months earlier — a separate observance.
- In Kerala serpent worship centres on sarpa kavus, the sacred groves attached to family land, with the Mannarasala temple its principal site.
- In Karnataka Naga Panchami is kept with milk offered at naga stones, often installed under a peepal tree.
- In Tamil Nadu the serpent shrines at temple peripheries receive offerings, and the observance is closely tied to prayers for children.
Common questions
When is Nagula Chaviti observed?
On the fourth tithi of the bright fortnight of Kartika — four days after Deepavali, in late October or November. Some households keep Nagula Panchami on the following tithi instead.
Is Nagula Chaviti the same as Naga Panchami?
No. Naga Panchami is the north Indian and Maharashtrian serpent festival, on the Shravana shukla panchami, about three months earlier. Same subject, different region and month.
What is offered at the anthill?
Cow's milk poured into the mouth of the anthill, with turmeric, kumkum, flowers, cooked rice and chimmili — a sesame and jaggery preparation. Eggs are offered in some households.
Why is the vrata kept for children?
The doshas the tradition associates with harm to serpents are held to affect progeny particularly, so the observance is kept for children's wellbeing and for relief from kala sarpa dosha.
Why are snakes worshipped at all?
The Nagas are a category of being with their own claim on respect. There is also a plain agricultural logic underneath: snakes control the rodents that eat stored grain, and making them sacred is the most durable protection available.
Slokas
అనంతం వాసుకిం శేషం పద్మనాభం చ కంబలం ।శంఖపాలం ధార్తరాష్ట్రం తక్షకం కాలియం తథా ॥
Ananta, Vasuki, Shesha, Padmanabha, Kambala, Shankhapala, Dhritarashtra, Takshaka and Kaliya — the nine serpent lords.
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