Basant Panchami 2018: Significance and celebrations of the colourful harvest festival

Basant Panchami 2018 is also celebrated as Saraswati Puja in many communities. This year the festival would be celebrated on January 22 2018.

Basant Panchami celebrates the onset of spring and harvest.

Basant Panchami is also celebrated as 'Saraswati Puja' in many communities.

Worshipping Goddess of knowledge

On the auspicious occasion, the Goddess of knowledge is worshipped by students for her blessings. Those involved in music also seek the blessings of the Goddess as Saraswati is also the Goddess of music and art.

Basant Panchami is celebrated on the fifth day of Maagh (a month in the Hindu calendar) each year and is celebrated in ways unique to each community. The word 'Basant' means spring and 'Panchmi' denotes the fifth day on which the festival fall.

Significance

Bengalis choose this auspicious day to introduce their children to reading and writing on this day. Little children are made to write their first letters on a slate with adult supervision in front of the idol of Goddess Sarsawati. The students also keep notebooks, pens near the statue of Goddess Saraswati. They also distribute sweets among the devotees and in the afternoon everybody proceeds towards delicious bhog that has Khichdi, mixed vegetable and festive favourite Payesh. Many schools organise cultural events to celebrate the festival.

Pitr-arpan

Some communities also do Pitr-arpan as a mark of respect and to call for peace for departed souls. The God of love, Kamadeva is also worshipped on this day. In Punjab, people deck up in bright yellow coloured clothes, fly kites and relish on Meethe Chawal or sweet rice. The colour yellow is symbolic of the vibrance of spring. After braving through the harsh winters, people welcome the spring donning the brightest colour of nature - yellow. People also offer yellow flowers and yellow sweets. Kesar halwa, sweet rice garnished with saffron is popularly prepared in households

Wishing you a happy Basant Panchami 2018

The festival marks the onset of spring and the same is considered to be the best season in Indian culture. Here is wishing you a happy Basant Panchami 2018.

OneIndia News