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Archana to snake at Kalahasti temple

dont know if the snake is the temple's property and is used to be brought to the deity to worship?
any contradicting views?
The Indian Cobra (naja naja) is a protected species under the Indian Wildlife Protection Act (1972). Keeping this snake in captivity is a punishable offence. This snake is naturally present in many temples across India, especially Lord Shiva temples. Only a trained snake catcher can handle it, otherwise it can move swiftly and bite the person trying to handle it. Fear is the cause of death due to snake bite in many cases. If the person bitten by a cobra does not panic (difficult to do so) and is administered anti-venom within half an hour, victim has a good chance of survival.

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In India, Anti-venom is not readily available. Moreover, you have to have the specific anti-venom to that snake.
The antivenom must be administered within a specific time.

But generally, the snake charmers Extract the fang of the cobra, this inhumane practice kills the snake.
The snake can not digest milk and does not drink milk. It suffers the milk abishekam and generally drowns.

This thread should not be in Rituals if you really want a scientific discussion.
 
In India, Anti-venom is not readily available. Moreover, you have to have the specific anti-venom to that snake.
The antivenom must be administered within a specific time.

But generally, the snake charmers Extract the fang of the cobra, this inhumane practice kills the snake.
The snake can not digest milk and does not drink milk. It suffers the milk abishekam and generally drowns.

This thread should not be in Rituals if you really want a scientific discussion.
I have interacted with the Irulas in Tamil Nadu for nearly a month. What an Irula does not know about a snake is not worth knowing.

I have given only some general information for the benefit of forum members. If I had wanted a scientific discussion, I would have discussed in detail about the 4 different types of snake venom, the fact that snakes being reptiles, not mammals, cannot digest milk, snakes do not have cerebral hemisphere and hence cannot retain information or images in their brain. This makes them incapable of taking revenge. Most importantly, they do not have "Nagmani" the mythical gem. I could fill this forum with pages of scientific facts and figures but I fear no member would be interested.

Currently, there is only one organisation—the Chennai-based Irula Snake Catchers’ Industrial Cooperative Society which extracts venom from the so-called “Big Four” species of snakes—the Indian Cobra, Common Krait, Saw-Scaled Viper and Russell’s Viper. Hence, the scarcity.

I do not know about other States, but at present in Maharashtra snake anti-venom is available in many State Govt. hospitals at a reasonable cost. The cost of anti-venom is prohibitive in private hospitals across India. The time within which the anti-venom is required to be administered depends on the snake which has bitten. If the victim is cool and unperturbed, which is rare, anti-venom for cobra can be administered within 30 to 45 minutes. The victim gets an even lesser time in case of the krait or the viper.
 
I have interacted with the Irulas in Tamil Nadu for nearly a month. What an Irula does not know about a snake is not worth knowing.

I have given only some general information for the benefit of forum members. If I had wanted a scientific discussion, I would have discussed in detail about the 4 different types of snake venom, the fact that snakes being reptiles, not mammals, cannot digest milk, snakes do not have cerebral hemisphere and hence cannot retain information or images in their brain. This makes them incapable of taking revenge. Most importantly, they do not have "Nagmani" the mythical gem. I could fill this forum with pages of scientific facts and figures but I fear no member would be interested.

Currently, there is only one organisation—the Chennai-based Irula Snake Catchers’ Industrial Cooperative Society which extracts venom from the so-called “Big Four” species of snakes—the Indian Cobra, Common Krait, Saw-Scaled Viper and Russell’s Viper. Hence, the scarcity.

I do not know about other States, but at present in Maharashtra snake anti-venom is available in many State Govt. hospitals at a reasonable cost. The cost of anti-venom is prohibitive in private hospitals across India. The time within which the anti-venom is required to be administered depends on the snake which has bitten. If the victim is cool and unperturbed, which is rare, anti-venom for cobra can be administered within 30 to 45 minutes. The victim gets an even lesser time in case of the krait or the viper.

We need people like you to speak up and not allow superstition to continue. I am surprised that you did not do that/ I generally do not participate in this section. We must stop this inhumane and cruel practice.
People must be educated.
This thread should be moved to GD section. I would like Mr. Balacs to give a detailed description about snakes and how they are misunderstood.
 
Every year, with the help of the forest department, a larger number of snakes are rescued from temples and streets. In 2016 and 2017, during Nag Panchami, 50 snakes including 35 cobras, 10 rat snakes, a 3-foot-long
red sand boa, an Indian rock python and a common sand boa were rescued. Cobras, frequently found living in horrific conditions, live perhaps up to two months with proper medication and care.

Baiju Raj MV, director, conservation projects, for the NGO Wildlife SOS and a person who has been handling snakes since three years of age, said, “Snakes are among the major predators of rodents, especially rats. In the old days people called them ‘friends of farmers’. But now the system has changed. The tolerance level of humans has gone down. They do not want to live or co-exist with any other form of life, even those which are important for maintaining a balance in the environment. Snakes help to control rat populations and save us from several diseases.”

According to wildlife experts, over the years religious beliefs surrounding snakes have slowly turned into superstition. Snake charming is one among them. Snake charmers earn their livelihood using snakes. “But the dark side of this is unknown to many of us. Snake charmers capture the reptiles from the forest and defang them with thin metal wires. They split open the venom gland or sometimes pull it out completely. All this is done without anesthesia,” Raj said.

The main victims are venomous snakes, most commonly the cobra. “If it is a non-venomous snake like a rat snake or a python, snake charmers stitch their mouth to avoid bites. These snakes hardly survive for two to three months. Some are just thrown away to die silently. Others are hunted and traded or their venom, skin, and meat. Most snakes are protected under the Wildlife Protection Act of 1972 and snake charming is a punishable offense,” Raj added.





Read more at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...ofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst
 
We need people like you to speak up and not allow superstition to continue. I am surprised that you did not do that/ I generally do not participate in this section. We must stop this inhumane and cruel practice.
People must be educated.
This thread should be moved to GD section. I would like Mr. Balacs to give a detailed description about snakes and how they are misunderstood.
My dear Sir

The word "surprised" in your narrative reminds me of a joke which I narrate below:

One English Professor was kissing his cook. His wife happens to catch him in the act and what transpired then is given below:

Wife: "Kissing the cook, Amos, I am surprised"!

English Professor: The purist in English as ever, "No my dear, I am surprised, you are astonished"!

Sticking to queen's English, even if, let's say, you are astonished, I have not taken it upon myself to educate the world, or should I say the villagers in India where snakes abound, to refrain from killing snakes or dissuading the snake charmers from pursuing their less than desirable occupation.

Most members of this forum are from major cities across the world where they have access to high-speed
broadband internet facilities and snake sightings are rare and would definitely hesitate to kill a snake either because of their religious beliefs or because they lack in courage. To educate villagers where snakes abound that snakes eat rat and mice saving anything between 60 to 70% of crops needs a major concerted effort at the Village Panchayat level which I am ill-equipped to initiate and sustain. However, a beginning in this regard has been made in Maharashtra where people have been encouraged to report snakes in residential areas either to trained private snake catchers or the Forest Department instead of killing them. These snakes are then caught and released in their natural habitat.

My subsequent posts would be on my personal experience in combating Osteoarthritis since I was recommended bilateral knee replacement, i.e. knee implants in both my knees at a cost of INR 600,000 and also how to tackle Vastu Dosh by simple inexpensive remedies rather than going in for expensive modifications of residential properties which may or may not work since these remedies are highly subjective. These posts should be significantly more beneficial to members of this forum rather than educating them on the impropriety of killing snakes.
 

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