Vasant Panchami is festival that marks the end of the winter season welcoming the spring with bright colors all around us, At this time of the year, when the cold and chilly winters retreat It seems as if not just the humans celebrate it, but the nature is also in full swing celebration mood with bright flowers and warm sunshine all around.
Vasant Panchami is the Hindu festival that highlights the coming of spring. This festival is usually celebrated in Magh, which is between the months of January and February. The festival is observed in the northern part of the Subcontinent. Although it is notified in the ritual calendar of South India.
It is also celebrated as Saraswati Puja in other parts of India
Story Behind Vasant panchami:
Vasant Panchami initiates the spring festive cycle and heralds its summation that occurs with Holi. The 40-day period between Vasant Panchami and Holi corresponds with the 40 days of Rati’s penance after her husband, Kamadeva was reduced to ashes for shooting the eye of Shiva with his love arrows. Between Vasant Panchami and Holi, preparations are made for numerous burnings in effigy of the demoness Holika. Starting on Vasant Panchami, a log with a figure of Holika is placed in a public place and during the next 40 days, the faithful add twigs and other combustible material to the log to form a pyre which is lit on Holi.
What Do People Do?
Sarasvati is the Hindu goddess of the Vasant Panchami festival. The day before Vasant Panchami , Sarasvati’s temples are filled with food so that she can join the celebrants in the traditional feasting the following morning.
In temples and educational institutions, statues of Sarasvati are dressed in yellow and worshiped. Most educational institutions arrange special prayers or pujas in the morning to seek blessing of the Goddess. Poetic and musical gatherings are held and children are initiated to learn the alphabet and are often taught to write their first words. This ritual of initiating education to children is known as Akshar-Abhyasam or Vidya-Arambham/Praasana, one of the famous rituals of Vasant Panchami.
Pens, notebooks, and pencils are placed near the goddess Devi’s feet to be blessed before they are used by students.
Older students clean their pens and inkwells but abstain from reading or writing on this day.
In Bengal, idols of Saraswati are taken on procession and immersed in the holy Ganga Young girls wear bright yellow dresses and participate in the festivities.
The color yellow holds a special meaning for this celebration as it signifies the brilliance of nature and the vibrancy of life. The whole place bursts with yellow during the festival. During the Vasant Panchami festival, India’s crop fields are filled with the color yellow, as the yellow mustard flowers bloom at this time of the year. The color yellow plays an important role in Vasant Panchami as it is related to the bloom of mustard flowers during this period
Yummy food is in the form of Safforan Rice, Kesar Halva made from Flour, sugar, nuts is prepared
Significance:
People worship Goddess Saraswati to get enlighten with knowledge and to get rid of lethargy, sluggishness and ignorance. The celebration of the Vasant Panchami is centered on the Hindu goddess Sarasvati. Sarasvati is the goddess of wisdom. She embodies the different facets of learning such as the sciences, arts, crafts and skills. She is said to be calm and collected. She is often pictured seated on a lotus or a peacock, wearing a white dress.
She has four hands which symbolize ego, intellect, alertness and the mind. She carries a lotus and scriptures in two of her hands and she plays music on the veena (an instrument similar to a sitar) with her other two hands. She rides on a white swan. Her white dress is a symbol for purity. Her swan signifies that people should have the ability to discern the good from the bad.
The goddess Sarasvati, sitting on a lotus, symbolizes her wisdom. She is also well-versed in the experience of truth. When the goddess is seen sitting on a peacock, it is a reminder that a strong ego can be held back by wisdom.
May the divine grace of Godess be with you,
Goddess Saraswati is the Light of hope and Peace,
May Goddess Saraswati Bless you with Knowledge and Wisdom.
May you be bestowed with
knowledge and wisdom…
Have a Blessed Vasant Panchami!
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