Statues of the pair of Nagdevas installed in the temple.
Highlights
People go to the temple and offer daal-bati to Nagdev. It is normal for black snakes to roam around in Nagmani village. After asking for forgiveness and performing puja, the snakes go away.
Naiduniya, Patera, Damoh (Nag Panchami 2024). In Nagmani village of Patera in Damoh, black snakes keep roaming in the houses of the people, but people are not afraid of them. On the day of Nag Panchami festival, a frying pan is not placed on the stove here. If someone places a frying pan on the stove, black snakes immediately appear. Hundreds of black snakes keep roaming in this village, but they do not harm anyone.
Prepare dal-bati and offer it to Nagdev
For years, the people of this village have been following the tradition of their ancestors and on the day of Nag Panchami, they go to the temple and prepare daal-bati and offer it to Nagdev. On this day, no frying pan is put on the stove in any house of the village and no food is cooked.
When hundreds of snakes appeared in the house
Many years ago, when a woman tried to cook food, hundreds of snakes appeared in her house. The frightened people went to the temple and apologized to Nagdev, and all the snakes in the house disappeared into the ground. The people of the village believe that Nagdev himself protects their village, so no one in the village is afraid of seeing a snake.
There is a statue of a pair of Nagdev
The elders of the village tell that there is a statue of a pair of Nagdev in their village and the name of their village is also Nagmani, their ancestors have felt the power of Nagdev, so they too are following the belief of their ancestors. This village also believes that many years ago on the day of Nagpanchami, when someone had put a frying pan on the stove to cook food at home, a snake fell into it and died, since then in this village, frying pan is not put on the stove on Nagpanchami.
Snakes guard the village
70-year-old Bhupat Tiwari said that his ancestors had told him that many years ago, on the day of Nag Panchami, when someone in the village put a frying pan on the stove to cook food, hundreds of snakes suddenly came out of the house, even though they knew that frying pan is not done on this day. When the family members went to the temple and apologized, the snakes disappeared from the house.
The snake has not caused any harm till date
Hakam Singh said that the black snake is not killed here, rather it protects the village and till date no one in the village has been harmed by the snake and no one has died due to snake bite. It is a tradition of the village that on the day of Nag Panchami, food is not cooked in anyone’s house and the frying pan is not put on the stove, if this is done then the snake god appears within a short time.
The sarpanch had built the temple two decades ago
Villagers Damodar Mishra, Pramod Rajput, Surendra Singh, Raghavendra Rajput, Pramod Tantuwai, Gaurav Rajput said that earlier there was a temple built here in which there was a statue of Nagdev. About two decades ago, the village sarpanch built a temple here and since then the statue of Nagdev is inside the temple where people come to worship.
It is normal to see black snakes roaming around in the village
Villagers Mannu Lal, Nannu Singh, Lal Singh said that snakes pass over people, but do not harm anyone. It is normal for black snakes to roam around in people’s houses in the village. If guests come to someone’s house on the day of Nag Panchami, they are also fed dal baati, no dishes are prepared. On the day of Nag Panchami, people come from far and wide to worship the snake god in Nagmani village.