Vasant Panchami
Encyclopedia
Saraswati
In Hinduism Saraswati , is the goddess of knowledge, music, arts, science and technology. She is the consort of Brahma, also revered as His Shakti....
, the goddess of knowledge
Knowledge
Knowledge is a familiarity with someone or something unknown, which can include information, facts, descriptions, or skills acquired through experience or education. It can refer to the theoretical or practical understanding of a subject...
, music
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
and art
Art
Art is the product or process of deliberately arranging items in a way that influences and affects one or more of the senses, emotions, and intellect....
. It is celebrated every year on the fifth day (Panchami
Panchami
Panchami is the fifth day of the fortnight in Hindu lunar calendar.-Festivals:Nag Panchami is a Hindu festival celebrated by Hindus in most parts of India. It is celebrated in Shravan month. On this day, people worship Nāga Devata . People go to temples and snake pits and worship the snakes...
) of the Indian month Magh
Magh
Magh may refer to:* Magi* Magh people, the Arakanese nationalities known in Bengal as Maghs* Maagha, a month in Hindu calendar* Magh * Magh * Magh * Magha , author of Shishupala Vadha...
(January-February), the first day of spring
Spring (season)
Spring is one of the four temperate seasons, the transition period between winter and summer. Spring and "springtime" refer to the season, and broadly to ideas of rebirth, renewal and regrowth. The specific definition of the exact timing of "spring" varies according to local climate, cultures and...
. Traditionally during this festival children are taught to write their first words; brahmin
Brahmin
Brahmin Brahman, Brahma and Brahmin.Brahman, Brahmin and Brahma have different meanings. Brahman refers to the Supreme Self...
s are fed; ancestor worship (Pitr-tarpan) is performed; the god of love Kamadeva
Kamadeva
Kāmadeva is the Hindu god of human love or desire. Other names for him include; Atanu , Ragavrinta , Ananga , Kandarpa , Manmatha , Manasija ,...
is worshipped; and most educational institutions organise special prayer for Saraswati. The color yellow
Yellow
Yellow is the color evoked by light that stimulates both the L and M cone cells of the retina about equally, with no significant stimulation of the S cone cells. Light with a wavelength of 570–590 nm is yellow, as is light with a suitable mixture of red and green...
also plays an important role in this festival, in that people usually wear yellow garments, Saraswati is worshipped dressed in yellow, and yellow sweets are consumed within the families. Children love flying kites . They enjoy the festival with great fun and enthusiasm.
Basant Panchami in Nepal
In Nepal, this day is celebrated by worshiping the goddess of wisdom Saraswati. Kids start learning alphabets from this day.Goddess Saraswati
Her expression is so serene and calm even as She is majestic. She is seated on a white lotus in Padmasana, adorned by a pure white silk sari, has a book in Her lower left hand, Her lower right hand showing the chinmudra, Aksharamala in Her right upper hand, and Amrithakalasam in Her left upper hand. Both eyes are full of compassion. The vehicle assigned to each of the three goddesses also symbolically represent their special powers.Goddess Saraswati is the consort of Lord Brahma (Lord of Creation) and is the Goddess of wisdom and learning. Saraswati is the one who gives the essence (sara) of our own self (swa). She is considered as the personification of all knowledge - arts, sciences, crafts and other skills. She has a beautiful and elegant presence, is pure white in colour, clad in a white sari, seated on a white lotus, representing purity and brilliance. She has four hands representing four aspects of human personality in learning; mind, intellect, alertness and ego. She has the sacred scriptures in one hand and a lotus (a symbol of true knowledge) in the second. With her other two hands she plays the music of love and life on the veena.
She is dressed in white (sign of purity) and rides on a white goose (swan). The swan is known for its peculiar characteristic of being capable of separating water from milk, indicating that we should possess discrimination in separating the bad from the good. The seat being a lotus or peacock implies that the teacher is well-established in the subjective experience of truth. When sitting on a peacock she reminds us that wisdom suppresses ego.
Devotees worship Her in temples, often by keeping books underneath Her idol. However, also every year in october Durga Puja (Navaratri) is celebrated by people all over India, be it students, workers, craftsmen, businessmen offering their prayers for a successful and fruitful year. However, Saraswati does have a temple in Koothanur in Tanjavur district (Tamil Nadu).Most famous sarsawati temple in India is situated in Shringeri, Karnataka Shringeri sharadamba temple
Shringeri Sharadamba temple
Sri Sharadamba Temple is a famous Hindu temple dedicated to goddess Saraswati in the holy town of Shringeri in Karnataka, IndiaThe Sharadamba Temple at Shringeri...
. This was established by Shankaracharya in 8th Century. There is an important Basar Saraswati Temple in Basar at a distance of 40 km from Nizamabad in Adilabad District, Andhra Pradesh on the banks of Godavari River. There is also a small but very old temple in Hasanpur and a relatively renovated one in Bakhri Bazar, Bihar. Wargal Saraswati Temple
Wargal Saraswati Temple
Sri Vidya Saraswati Temple or Wargal Saraswati Temple is a Hindu temple located in Medak district in Andhra Pradesh, India. The deity of education in Hinduism is Goddess Saraswati. It is among the few temples of Saraswati in Andhra Pradesh. It is maintained by Kanchi Shanker Mutt...
is located in Medak district
Medak district
Medak District is located in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India. Sangareddy is the district headquarters of Medak. The district had a population of 2,670,097, of which 14.36% were urban as of 2001...
in AP.
Vasant Panchami is celebrated in January-February all over the country with great fervor and vigor.
KITE FESTIVAL
In Ferozepur (Punjab) it is also as a Kite Festival in Border Area city of Punjab Ferozepur, This Festival is very famous in the city as boys and girls buy Dora (Thread) and Gude aka Patang (Kites) in huge quantity to fly. Children as well as young boys like this festival very much. Young boys by putting sound system on their terrace start dancing right from the evening of the previous day of Basant (vasant panchami), colour full kites in the sky makes the sky very colour full and worth seeing. People from all around the world came to enjoy this festival. It assumes that this festival is most popular festival in ferozepur then any other.Basant Panchami has a specific meaning, Basant means Spring, whereas Panchami means the fifth day of the spring. It falls on Panchami - on the Waxing Moon. The festival lies in the month of January-February.
The young girls dressed in the diverse shades of yellow magnify the splendor of nature. Kite flying, a popular sport in India, is associated with the Basant Panchami day. It is a day for young crowd - no routine work, no studies, only merry making.