This comes after BJP Shirala Assembly constituency legislator Satyajit Deshmukh moved a calling attention motion to raise the issue of serpent worship. The constituency and Battis Shirala village in Sangli district are famous for live snake worship, which was later banned, following a petition by wildlife activists
The Cobra is worshipped during Nag Panchami. Representation pic
The Maharashtra government will be making efforts to restart Nag Panchami (worshipping alive Cobra snakes) as per the traditional Hindu rituals, which has been banned since 2006. Nag Panchami festival this year falls on July 29.
This comes after BJP Shirala Assembly constituency legislator Satyajit Deshmukh moved a calling attention motion to raise the issue of serpent worship. The constituency and Battis Shirala village in Sangli district are famous for live snake worship, which was later banned, following a petition by wildlife activists.
On Wednesday, Deshmukh, while speaking in the Legislative Assembly, explained the religious importance and feelings of locals for the festival. “Government should allow permission to restart the traditional practice of worshipping live snakes,” Deshmukh stated.
Maharashtra Forest Minister Ganesh Naik. Pic/X@NaikSpeaks
The motion was supported by NCP’s (Sharad Pawar faction) Jayant Patil and BJP MLA Gopichand Padalkar. However, Eknath Shinde camp MLA Arjun Khotkhar asked if the Maharashtra government would approach the Supreme Court and present its case to get the ban lifted.
Following the motion, State Forest Minister Ganesh Naik said that he will take up the issue with the Union Forest Minister and will urge the Centre to grant permission to restart the rituals.
“Will be meeting the Union environment and forest minister on July 7 or 8… Will request them to get the permission to restart the old traditional practice and at the same time ensure that there is no harm to reptiles while doing so,” Naik said.
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