People throng Tulsi Ghat for 'Nag-Nathaiya' fair

VARANASI: Scores of devotees and foreigners converged on the banks of the river Ganga at Tulsi Ghat to witness the festival and fair of 'Nag-Nathaiya' in the city on Thursday.
According to Hindu mythology, Lord Krishna, who spent his childhood in the vicinity of Mathura, tamed the evil snake in the river Yamuna by dancing on its hood and had freed the locals from the serpent's scare.
'Nag-Nathaiya' is an enactment of this episode from the life of Lord Krishna. The tradition of this enactment is several hundreds years old. The fair is also one of the 'lakha melas' (fairs that attract crowd of lakhs) held in the city. Young children dressed as Krishna and his friends tamed the symbolic evil snake. People led by priests offered prayers thereafter.