The Snake Torture Festival

It's that day of the year again in India, when thousands of snakes across the country are captured from the wild, have their fangs hammered out and burned, and are subjected to the worst form of torture, including force-feeding with milk and sprinkling of vermilion into their eyes. Naag Panchami is a festival meant to worship and revere snakes. The best way of doing so is to leave them alone, in the wild. 

The comic appears in my Sunday column with Mid-Day today.

Read a series of cartoons I created in collaboration with indiansnakes.org that debunks snake myths here. Celebrate Naag Panchami cruelty free.

Snake Myths Busted

I collaborated with the amazing folks at Indiansnakes.org  to bring out some cartoons that debunk snake myths that are prevalent in India and lead to harassment, capture and even death of snakes. Naag Panchami, a festival in which snakes are meant to be worshiped, ends up being a day of horror for snakes; particularly cobras, as they are captured from the wild, defanged and rendered helpless, force-fed with milk and tortured.

Indiansnakes will soon be publishing vernacular versions of the cartoons and distributing it as posters. Thanks to the dynamic Shaleen Attre and Jose Luis for teaming up!

Let this Naagpanchami be cruelty free. Say no to snake worship and report the capturing of snakes to your local forest department.

Snake's take

Naag Panchami is one of the most bizarre and ruthless festivals celebrated in India. Snakes are captured illegally by snake charmers, their fangs are hammered out of their jaws, to render them harmless (and practically disabled). This is not the end of the torture to these innocent reptiles- they are forced to perform in front of crowds and consume milk, which by no means is their natural diet.


This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 India License.