Nag Panchami celebrated with enthusiasm

Kolhapur: Nag Panchami was celebrated amidst much fanfare on Friday.
In Kolhapur city, hundreds of devotees visited Nagoba temple at Nagala Park. The road leading to Nagoba temple saw a rush of devotees throughout the day. Meanwhile, a colourful celebration was held at Battis Shirala village, famous for Nag Panchami celebrations. Sambhaji Gaikwad, president of Ambamata Trust at Battis Shirala, said, “A procession of clay idols of cobra was taken out at Battis Shirala by several mandals to the Ambamata temple amidst a heavy rush of devotees.Several stalls selling food and toys were set up on the procession route. Decorated vehicles participated in the procession rally brought out by Nag mandals.” A separate snakebite ward, with anti-venom vaccines, was kept ready by the Shirala health department, but there was no report of snakebite till Friday evening. Police and forest department officials were deployed to keep an eye on processions and other activities in the town.
A police force of over 600 police personnel comprising a deputy superintendent of police, 14 police inspectors, 37 assistant police sub-inspectors, 450 police personnel, 50 women police officers, and 50 traffic police were deployed.
Under the guidance of deputy conservator of forest Neeta Katti, assistant conservator of forest Dr Ajit Sajne, and range forest officer Eknath Pardhi, six patrolling teams were formed to keep a watch on the celebrations. Surveillance was carried out through CCTV cameras, drone cameras, video cameras. A control room was set up to monitor the situation.
MSRTC had deployed 50 additional buses on Shirala route considering the large number of devotees visiting Battis Shirala town. Nag Panchami is observed on the fifth day of Shravan Shukla Paksha to honour the Snake God. The origin of snake worship in India can be traced to the Indus Valley civilisation.