Telugu community observes Naga Chaturthi in south Odisha 

Reported by Ranjan Rath
Rayagada, Oct 28:

The Telugu community in six south Odisha districts observed Naga Chaturthi on Monday.

In Rayagada district, members of the Telugu community took bath early in the morning and offered water to the Sun God, prepared cobra couple made from rice powder. Later they took them to nearby termite mounds where they performed the ritual by offering them with rice and milk.

Later, they put eggs and other food items inside the holes in the mound for the snakes.

As per the belief of the Telugu community, performing the ritual would protect them from snake bite throughout the year.

The community also believes that there would be no ear-related diseases if one applies the soil of the termite mound on his/her ears on this day.

Apart from Rayagada, the ritual was also observed with gaiety in Koraput, Malkangiri, Nabarangpur, Gajapati and Ganjam districts.