Visakhapatnam: Nagula Chavithi celebrated with devotional fervour

Visakhapatnam: The traditions and rituals followed during ‘Nagula Chavithi’ turn out to be a business activity for a section of people moments later devotees leave the snake pits after offering prayers to the Serpent Gods.

Even as people wake up in the wee hours of the day to make sweetmeats, including sesame-loaded laddus and ‘chalimidi’ (rice flour mixed in sugar or jaggery syrup), for the festival and offer them as a ‘naivedyam’ to the ‘Naga Devata’, many follow the tradition of pouring sachets milk, placing dozens of eggs along with flowers, coconut and an array of homemade sweets at the pits.

However, in most urban areas, spotting a natural mound of snake pit turned out to be a rare scenario. To address this challenge, artificial snake pits were set up by some overnight to cash in on the festival demand. A section of people create artificial snake pits in several localities to cater to the convenience of the devotees and also strike a deal later.

Even as many follow rituals during ‘Nagula Chavithi’, it turns out to be a revenue-generating festival for some as they collect money from the visitors, explaining to them that they took up the clean-up work at the snake pits. Also, minutes after the devotees leave the place after offering milk, placing eggs and other edible stuff to the Serpent Gods, a group of persons collect those eggs and resell them after cleaning them up. Apparently, such collected eggs are often sold at a concessional price to those operating small eateries and pan shops.

Apart from snake pits, several temples witnessed crowds as devotees performed puja to the Serpent deities with fervour.

As rarely-sighted snake pits in neighbourhoods remained crowded, Indira Gandhi Zoological Park (IGZP) brimmed with a little less than 10,000 visitors. Every year, the IGZP registers considerable footfall on ‘Nagula Chavithi’ as many make do with the shortage of burrows by offering prayers at the zoo premises. Apparently, the increased turnout included those who celebrated ‘Kartika masam vana bhojanalu’ as well, aiding the IGZP to generate a revenue of Rs.7.58 lakh.

Despite animal activists appealing repeatedly to the people to refrain from bursting crackers near the snake pits, many were seen indulging in it and filling the pits with litres of milk and other offerings.