Andhra Pradesh
Nagula Chavithi, celebrated on the fourth day after Diwali, saw people thronging the temples and snake pits to worship the Snake God with milk, eggs and puja material on Monday. The serpents are worshipped on this day for prosperity and well-being.
Kakinada devotees were surprised by the visit of a cobra which came out of the pit when they went to offer their prayers in a snake pit. People believed it to be auspicious and offered prayers while some others took videos of the snake.
The cobra must have come out of the pit as it suffocated due to the milk poured in the pit. Though Nagula Chavithi is a festival for the devout dedicated to worshipping snakes, animal rights activists cry foul as that festival is actually a death trap for the snakes.
Snakes don’t even drink milk and pouring large quantities of milk into the pits only manages to suffocate the snake. The milk poured in the pits saturates the soil and destroys both the eco system and a snakes’ digestive system, according to animal lovers.