Millions of Hindus will worship snakes today for Nag Panchami.
The holy festival is celebrated across India as well as in Nepal with dozens of offerings made to the gods.
Here is everything you need to know about the festival, including what it is about, how it is celebrated and why people worship snakes.
Nag Panchami will be held on Thursday July 27 this year.
After one employer responded to Madalyn Parker’s request for a mental health sick day in a brilliant, understanding way, it feels like everyone’s talking about mental wellbeing and its relationship to working culture.
But for people with mental illness, thinking about how mental health and your job can work together isn’t a new struggle.
Those with mental health issues have to deal with stigma, a fear that their employers may not understand their needs, and judgment from their colleagues – all while their mental illness makes things harder.
If you fancy some thrills this summer holiday, you could do much worse than Center Parcs’ brand new water attraction.
Opening at their Longleat site, the Subtropical Swimming Paradise is set to offer holidaygoers a completely immersive waterpark experience.
The new water park includes the Tropical Cyclone ride, a two or three person raft ride which Center Parcs describe as ‘142 metres of twists, turns and gravity-defying drops’.
The experience also includes personalised ‘audio-visual experiences’, with numerous ‘themes’ to choose from. The Cyclone is already available at Center Parcs’ Elveden Forest and Woburn Forest locations.
Millions will worship snakes across India and Nepal today for Nag Panchami.
Milk, flowers and sweets will be offered up to the serpent god in the hope that the god will answer people’s prayers.
Friends and family will gather to celebrate with one another – here are some quotes, wishes, greetings and photos to share.
You’ve got your gym routine down. You’re working hard. But you’re not seeing results or perhaps you’re just not feeling better.
Why? Well, it’s probably a glitch in your nutritional plan.
Food is often the thing we overlook when we change our training plans. We up the exercise but we don’t stop to consider rejigging our fueling. Usually, our planning stops with cutting out any crap and aiming to eat healthier.
But James Collins, head nutritionist at Arsenal, says that what we put in our bodies – and the times that we do it – is absolutely crucial to how well we perform.
Over the past 10 years, he’s worked with British Athletic, Arsenal’s first team and the English Football Team, where he’s really honed their performance nutrition.
Whether you are trying for a baby, or you fall pregnant accidentally, watching that cross slowly fill the test stick window is always going to elicit a range of emotions.
Joy, terror, surprise, disbelief: the only constant upon discovering you are pregnant is the knowledge that life is about to change. Irrevocably, forever.
You can’t prepare for that moment, but there’s nothing like talking to someone who has been there, done… Read the full story
Kebabs have a bad rep for being the food du jour at the end of a drunken night out.
But – when done properly – they’re actually a pretty tasty food, perfect for any time of day.
And Newcastle Airport seem to agree with this statement, as this week they opened a kebab shop right in the heart of their departure lounge.
If you’re sat there thinking, ‘Christ on a bike,there’s actually something lower in the airport food chain than a Wetherspoons… Read the full story
Women want longterm commitment, men are resistant – or so the stereotype goes.
While we may all dream of meeting someone who wants to marry us without being paid, bargained with, or badgered into it (wouldn’t it be nice to get hitched to someone who actually wants the same in return), sometimes, things don’t run that smoothly.
That’s the case for Amanda Barr, anyway.
She’s been bugging her partner, Stuart Gunn to marry her for the past ten years, but he’s always put off making the legal commitment.
This week, Amanda came… Read the full story
Nigerian parents are an interesting bunch.
They’re funny, sassy, very educated, but my goodness they are strict and very traditional – all hell can break loose on you if you don’t act right.
At times they can be the funniest person you know but other times they can be as scary as Lord Voldemort riding a giant spider.
And they have their set ideas on marriage and education.
Here are some of the things you know if you have Nigerian parents:
1. They are so loud
Whether they are talking on the phone,… Read the full story
Is skin gritting worth the faff? That’s this week’s big question.
Is It Worth The Faff? is a new series which involves us asking, once a week, whether a beauty trend, product, or treatment is actually worth the time, money, and effort – AKA faff.
Last week we tried out bubble masks, the week before that we tried lip masks, and the week before that I had a lash lift (my… Read the full story
McDonald’s have have been hitting the news recently, and not in a good way.
A staff member was caught having a shower in the restaurant’s kitchen sink, ‘significant levels of poo‘ have been found in their ice, and some pics of a disgustingly dirty McFlurry machine have also been doing the rounds.
This time, one of their Indonesian regional menu items has been causing a bit of a stir… Read the full story
I have been a compulsive skin picker for as long as I can remember.
For those of you who don’t know what compulsive skin picking – which is also known as Dermatillomania – is, it’s where a person repetitively picks at their skin to the extent where visible damaged is caused.
It is a form of impulse-control disorder, a condition in which a person is unable to stop themselves carrying out a particular action, such as skin picking – and is linked to Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) as often the… Read the full story
According to extra-marital affairs website, Gleeden, 74% of married women think that their partners are too stingy.
Now, research from extra marital websites needs to be taken with a pinch of salt, because if you’re quizzing a test group who have already joined a website specifically designed for cheating, you’re going to get a specific type of answer.
But even with that taken into consideration, 74% really does seem like a lot.
A lack of presents, flowers, holidays and smart restaurants is apparently the root cause of this perception. 69% of those surveyed went… Read the full story
Human beings – we’re a scared little bunch.
Whether it’s spiders crawling into our mouths while we sleep, snakes slithering into our cars or rats joining us on our daily commute, we’ve all got our phobias.
And then there are clowns.
So many of us are traumatised by these supposedly friendly little childhood baes, which is why the idea of sleeping in a clown motel may be your worst nightmare.
But if it’s a nightmare dream… Read the full story
It’s a culinary delight favoured by British chip shops, but what is scampi?
Despite it being part of the national dish, many people don’t actually know what scampi is.
We gobble down food without really knowing what’s in it every day, but seeing as £50million of scampi is bought each year in the UK, we thought you should probably know what you’re getting next time you hit the local chippy.
Well, it kind of depends where you’re getting it from.
Scampi should really… Read the full story
One of the things vegan parents worry about is whether their child will stand out from their peers.
My daughter started school in September. We had the option of free school meals or sending in a packed lunch.
I knew that most of the other kids would be eating school dinners and I didn’t want my daughter to miss out on that experience. Plus, it’s… Read the full story
Crafting is becoming big these days, especially since Hobby Craft suddenly decided to put stores in just about every retail park.
Not only that, but the ability to sell your crafts is also becoming popular thanks to sites such as Not On The High Street and Etsy.
As long as time and patience is given, anyone can have a crafting session even if it is to make and sell things, to relax or just a fun way to entertain the children.
Here are 10 awesome crafting ideas… Read the full story
As a woman, you’re bombarded with messages about getting pregnant.
For the first couple of decades of your life, it’s the worst thing that could ever happen. You’re taught that teenage pregnancy is the worst possible thing that could happen to you.
Then, as if by magic, the advice changes. The moment you’re out of education, you’re supposed to start worrying. If you don’t do it soon, your chances will be gone forever and you will die a barren, dried up husk, without anyone to love… Read the full story
Strap up your hearts, dear reader, for this is going to be a bumpy ride down the highway of emotions.
Picture the scene – a young roe deer has lost her mum and dad and is left wandering the roads alone.
She’s cold, she’s afraid, she’s lonely.
And she’s only one week old.
The future looks bleak. Until a couple of kindly humans find her and take to a local animal sanctuary, where her new life starts to unfold.
Switching to the world of vaping can be overwhelming and confusing to those who have been smoking for years.
There is plenty to learn about as you get accustomed to using an e-cigarette, especially if you move from a starter kit to more advanced set ups such as sub ohm vaping.
It’s common to make a few mistakes as you start out, but these errors can prove costly if you’re making them over and over again without realising where you’re going wrong.
Here are some of the… Read the full story
