Nagula Chavithi celebrated with religious fervour in Tirupati

Devotees offer prayers on the occasion of ‘Nagula Chavithi’ at Sri Kapileswara Swamy temple in Tirupati on Friday. | Photo Credit: K.V. Poornachandra Kumar

Women made a beeline to temples to offer prayers to the ‘snake pits’ on the occasion of Nagula Chavithi on Friday (November 13, 2026).

Devotees thronged the temples in Tirupati with the advent of the auspicious Kartheeka month, while the Nagula Chavithi falling on a Friday proved to be even more significant, adding to the spiritual ecstasy, especially among the female devotees.

It has been an age-old practice for women to weave a net of sacred threads around the mole hill and pour milk into it, as a form of divine offering to the mythical snake-god. The scores of idols of three-hooded and five-hooded serpents dotting the temples also got a fresh coat of turmeric and vermilion for the holy occasion.

Meanwhile, the event was also marked with religious fervour at the famed Srikalahastheeswara Swamy temple in Srikalahasti town.

It may be recalled that this shrine draws huge crowds for the ‘Sarpa Dosha Puja’ (Rahu-Ketu Puja), the ritual conducted on a daily basis to ward off the ill effects caused by the mythological serpents Rahu and Ketu.

In fact, it is only in Srikalahasti that the temple is kept open during solar and lunar eclipses, while hindu temples across the country remain closed during this period.

The various stone idols were given a celestial bath with turmeric paste in a prolonged ritual at the temple, in the presence of officials.

Published - November 13, 2026 09:16 pm IST