Basant Panchami, also known as Saraswati Panchami is a popular festival in Hinduism dedicated to the worship of Goddess Saraswati. Basant Panchami is celebrated on the ‘Panchami’ (5th day) of the Shukla Paksha (bright fortnight of moon) in the month of ‘Magha’ in Hindu calendar, which corresponds to the month of January-February in the English calendar. It marks the beginning of the spring season in India. In 2022, Basant Panchami falls on 5th February, Saturday.
Significance of Basant Panchami
The word “Basant” means “Spring” and “Panchami” signifies “fifth day”. Hence, Basant Panchami is celebrated on the 5th day of Spring season. This festival is believed to welcome the vibrant spring season by terminating the old winter waves. On the day of Basant Panchami, the devotees seek Goddess Saraswati’s blessings and performing the puja helps to get rid of lethargy, ignorance and lack of focus. It’s an astrologers belief that the Basant Panchami day is “Abhuja”, signifying an auspicious day for doing good work all day long. Therefore, the festival of Basant Paanchami has great social and religious importance in Hindu culture and is celebrated with a lot of dedication throughout the country.
Importance Of Basant Panchami for Students-
Basant Panchami as a festival holds special significance for students since it’s dedicated to Maa Saraswati, the goddess of knowledge and wisdom. The students worship Maa Saraswati with a lot of zeal and fervour. They offer their notebooks, pencils and pens to Maa Saraswati and keep them near her feet till the pija ends. This ritual is said to give great wisdom and enlightenment to the students. The day of Basaant Panchami is also regarded as auspicious for initiating the studies of young children. This ritual is called “Vidyarambh” or “Aksharabhyasam”. Various schools across the world conduct special events on this day.
Puja Rituals
The Rituals of the festival are very simple and easy to follow. Here’s a list of how the puja Vidhi is done step by step.
- On the auspicious day of Basant Panchami, wake up early in the morning and take a bath.
- After that, wear clean yellow clothes since it is believed that Maa Saraswati loves yellow colour. Then sanctify the idol of Maa Saraswati with Gangajal.
- White clothes are offered to Maa Saraswati and her idol is kept on a podium in the puja place. Then the puja begins.
- Offer white colored flowers to the Maa to seek her blessings since she loves white flowers. Then bhog, kheer and other sweets are offered to Maa Saraswati.
- According to the scriptures, donating pens, pencils and books to poor children and other students after the worship is considered very auspicious. By doing so, the blessings of the Maa Saraswati always remain on you.
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