Villagers carry hundreds of snakes through streets during festival

Villagers hold hundreds of snakes aloft as part of an ancient Hindu festival based around the worship of serpents.

Nag Panchami is celebrated by millions across India and Nepal around July and August.

Devotees lift the serpents – which have been collected weeks in advance in preparation for the festival – in the air to negate any bad karma.

Footage shows how hundreds of people from a village near Bhagalpur, Bihar, take part in the tradition.

As part of the festivities, the snakes are released into bodies of water before a priest uses his mouth to fish the reptiles out.

They are then taken to a temple and fed milk before being released back into the wild.

The footage was filmed on August 2.