India blesses its snakes as charmers face the venom of modern life

India blesses its snakes as charmers face the venom of modern life
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In this photo taken on July 14, 2017, the son of an Indian snake charmer holds a cobra snake around his neck in Kapari village, around 40km southwest of Allahabad in Uttar Pradesh state. Officially the snake charmers' profession is banned in India, but many in the country offered prayers and milk blessings to cobras and other deadly serpents on July 28 in an annual tribute. The 800,000 charmers and their young apprentices come to the fore for the Nag Panchami festival which dates back several centuries. Many of the boys and girls in Kapari village in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh play with the snakes as though they are toys -- in Kapari and the scores of other snake charmer villages across India, adults bring up their children in the profession from a young age to avoid fear. / AFP / SANJAY KANOJIA
Updated 30 July 2017
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India blesses its snakes as charmers face the venom of modern life

India blesses its snakes as charmers face the venom of modern life

INDIA: Officially the snake charmers’ profession is banned in India, but its devotees were at the center of prayers and milk blessings offered to cobras and other deadly serpents in an annual tribute Friday.
The country’s 800,000 charmers and their young apprentices come to the fore each year for the centuries-old Nag Panchami festival, celebrated in honor of a serpent god prominent in Hindu mythology.
Children sat cross legged at temples in Allahabad and other cities around the country with elongated cobras and pythons wrapped around their necks.
Many play with the snakes as though they are toys — in traditional snake charmer villages, like Kapari in Uttar Pradesh state, children are taught the art from a young age to avoid fear.
Milk — a traditional tribute — is poured on the snakes’ faces, as the charmers play music. Rice and flowers are also offered to the reptiles.
The charmers who pretend to hypnotise their animals for tourists outside monuments and in the streets say they earn as little as 200 rupees ($3) a day — not enough to keep their family, or feed their snakes.
In doing so, they are risking arrest. The practice was banned under wildlife legislation implemented in 2002.
Animal rights group PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) has called for an end to the “cruel” practice.
PETA says snakes are captured in suffocating bags, kept in tiny boxes and forced to drink milk.
The group says snakes’ fangs are often violently torn out, and many snakes’ mouths are sewn shut to avoid bites.
But while authorities have tried to discourage the shows, the charmers say it is impossible to completely stop them.
“There is nothing else for us to do,” said Vikas Penna, a charmer in his 30s. “What do you want me to do, become a rickshaw driver?“