Vasant Panchami is a famous festival of North India. This festival belongs to Hindus, some Hindus know this festival as Saraswati Puja. Vasant Panchami is also called Basant Panchami. It is a festival that marks the initial preparations for the arrival of spring. Which is celebrated in different ways in different regions in India. This festival is celebrated every year on the Shukla Panchami of the month of Magha.

Goddess Saraswati is called the Goddess of Vidya. Saraswati is worshiped on this day, since ancient times it is considered to be the birthday of Saraswati, the mother goddess of knowledge and art. Vasant Panchami festival is a festival dedicated to Goddess Saraswati, the Goddess of knowledge, language, music and all arts. On this festival, women wear yellow clothes, and cook yellow dishes. In India, the whole year is divided into six seasons, of which spring is the favorite season of all. In this month, the field is filled with mustard yellow flowers.

This day is also considered as an auspicious day to begin work. It is also considered very auspicious to get married or perform house warming ceremony (griha pravesh) on the day of Vasant Panchami.

Interestingly, the color yellow holds great significance during Vasant Panchami as it is associated with the colour of mustard flowers that bloom during this season, so wearing the hue is also encouraged.

Celebrations and traditions

–              In addition to Saraswati Puja celebrations, people across Punjab and Haryana observe the Basant Festival of Kites with great enthusiasm. At Amritsar’s Harmandir Sahib the Sikhs initiate singing of the Basant Raga that continues till the first day of Vaisakh. Also, in Bilaspur, Himachal Pradesh, the Sikhs organise a fair at the renowned gurudwara of Guru-ka-Lahore.

–              Basant Sufi is also celebrated by Muslims at Delhi’s Nizamuddin Dargah and the dargah of Chishti.

–              In Bihar’s Aurangabad district, people celebrate this day as the birthday of Deo Sun-god, whose shrine was set up by King Aila of Prayagraj on the day of Vasant Panchami.

As ‘Diwali’ – the festival of light – is to Lakshmi, goddess of wealth and prosperity, and ‘Navaratri’ is to Durga, goddess of power and valor, Vasant Panchami is to Saraswati, the goddess of knowledge and arts. This festival is celebrated every year on the 5th day or ‘Panchami’ of the bright fortnight of the lunar month of Magha, which falls during January-February, (see calendar). ‘Vasant’ comes from the word ‘spring’ as this festival heralds the beginning of the spring season.

Birthday of Goddess Saraswati

It is believed that on this day goddess Saraswati was born. Hindus celebrate Vasant Panchami with great fervor in temples, homes and even schools and colleges. Saraswati’s favorite color white assumes special significance on this day. Statues of the goddess are dressed in white clothes and are worshiped by devotees adorning white garments. Saraswati is offered sweets which are given away as ‘prasad’ to all people attending the ritual worship.

There is also a custom of ancestor worship, known as ‘Pitri-Tarpan’ in many parts of India during Vasant Panchami.

The Foundation of Education

The most significant aspect of Vasant Panchami is that it is also the most auspicious day to begin laying one’s foundations of education – of how to read and write. Pre-school children are given their first lesson in reading and writing on this day. All Hindu educational institutions conduct special prayer for Saraswati on this day. It is also a great day to inaugurate training institutes and new schools – a trend made famous by the renowned Indian educationist Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya (1861-1946), who founded the Banaras Hindu University on Vasant Panchami day in 1916.

A Springtime Celebration

During Vasant Panchami, the advent of spring is felt in the air as the season undergoes change. New leaves and blossoms appear in the trees with the promise of new life and hope. Vasant Panchami also announces the arrival of another big springtime event in the Hindu calendar – Holi, the festival of colors.

Saraswati Mantra: Sanskrit Prayer:

Here is the text of the popular ‘pranam mantra’ or Sanskrit prayer, Saraswati devotees utter with utmost devotion on this day:

Om Saraswati Mahabhagey, Vidye Kamala Lochaney |

Viswarupey Vishalakshmi, Vidyam Dehi Namohastutey ||

Jaya Jaya Devi, Charachara Sharey, Kuchayuga Shobhita, Mukta Haarey |

Vina Ranjita, Pustaka Hastey, Bhagavati Bharati Devi Namohastutey ||

Saraswati Vandana: Sanskrit Hymn

The following hymn is also recited on Vasant Panchami:

Yaa Kundendu tushaara haaradhavalaa, Yaa shubhravastraavritha|

Yaa veenavara dandamanditakara, Yaa shwetha padmaasana||

Yaa brahmaachyutha shankara prabhritibhir Devaisadaa Vanditha|

Saa Maam Paatu Saraswatee Bhagavatee Nihshesha jaadyaapahaa||

English Translation

“May Goddess Saraswati,

who is fair like the jasmine-colored moon,

and whose pure white garland is like frosty dew drops; who is adorned in radiant white attire,

on whose beautiful arm rests the veena,

and whose throne is a white lotus;

who is surrounded and respected by the Gods, protect me. May you fully remove my lethargy, sluggishness, and ignorance.”

Saraswati, the goddess of knowledge and arts, represents the free flow of wisdom and consciousness. She is the mother of the Vedas, and chants to her, called the ‘Saraswati Vandana’ often begin and end Vedic lessons. Saraswati is the daughter of Lord Shiva and Goddess Durga. It is believed that goddess Saraswati endows human beings with the powers of speech, wisdom and learning. She has four hands representing four aspects of human personality in learning: mind, intellect, alertness and ego. She has sacred scriptures in one hand and a lotus – the symbol of true knowledge – in the second.

The Symbolism of Saraswati

With her other two hands she plays the music of love and life on a string instrument called the veena. She is dressed in white – the symbol of purity – and rides on a white swan – symbolizing Sattwa Guna or purity and discrimination. Saraswati is also a prominent figure in Buddhist iconography – the consort of Manjushri.

The learned and the erudite attach greater importance to the worship of goddess Saraswati.