4 days ago
Bihar's Nag Panchami ritual goes viral as devotees parade with snakes; netizens react: ‘Angrej humse azad huye hain'
In Bihar's Samastipur district, hundreds of devotees recently flocked to Singhia Ghat for the annual Nag Panchami fair, a centuries-old celebration where live snakes play a central role in religious rituals.
From toddlers to women worshippers, participants carried snakes casually — draped around their necks, looped around arms, perched on heads, or simply held in their hands.
Viral videos of the event, including one posted by Brut India, show the scenes in vivid detail. Some families were seen navigating the busy fairgrounds with snakes wrapped around them, while others carried them coiled around wooden sticks, treating the reptiles more like revered symbols than wild beings.
'Watch how snakes take center stage, and even coil around people's necks, during a 300-year-old ritual in a Bihar village,' reads the caption on Brut India's Instagram post.
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The video, which has sparked widespread reactions online, also explains that the snakes are typically caught weeks in advance and later released back into the wild. However, the practice of defanging the snakes, a painful and illegal act under Indian wildlife law, is still reported to be common during the preparations. 'Before the ritual, snakes are often defanged, an illegal practice under Indian law that leaves them weakened,' the video notes.
While some appreciated the tradition, others expressed strong concern for the treatment of the reptiles. One commenter wrote, 'It is deeply concerning that certain temples or spiritual practices continue to involve the harming of animals. Such acts are not only cruel but go against the very essence of spirituality, which is rooted in compassion, peace, and respect for all living beings.'
Another user said, 'I feel bad for the snakes. How we treat other livings says a lot.' A third user wrote, 'Hum Angrej Se nahi Angrej Humse Azad huye hain!' (We didn't get freedom from the British, they got freed from us.)
As of now, PETA has not issued a fresh statement on the issue. The last time the organisation weighed in on the issue was in 2016, when it urged devotees to swap live snakes with clay replicas for the festival, as per Brut India.
