Observed on Shravana Shukla Panchami, this sacred Vedic ritual protects homes from venom, removes Sarpa Dosha (Kalsarpa), and invokes the benevolence of serpent deities through door-frame drawings, raw milk, and sacred grass offerings.
After morning bath, mix cowdung or red geru with water. Using a clean twig or brush, draw the revered symbols of five or seven hooded serpent deities on both the left and right side of the home entrance to guard against negative energies.
Place a brass or silver Nag Devta idol (or clay image) on a copper plate lined with lotus petals or fresh green leaves. Gently bathe the idol with Gangajal followed by raw unboiled cow milk, chanting the names of the serpent kings.
Apply cool sandalwood paste to the serpent heads. Offer fresh green Durva grass (beloved to Nagas) and a generous bowl of roasted paddy kheel (lawa). Kheel cools the digestive heat of serpents during the humid monsoon season.
Sit with folded hands facing East and recite the story of the virtuous peasant girl whose milk offering appeased the mourning serpent mother and saved her entire family, followed by Sage Astika's hymn that quenched King Janamejaya's Sarpa Satra.
Wave the pure ghee diya and burning camphor while ringing the bell. Conclude the fast by partaking of steamed, boiled, or prior-cooked foods (such as rice kheer, boiled lentils, or laddoos). Cooking directly on an iron tawa is strictly prohibited on this day.
