BASANTA PANCHAMI: The Advent of Spring

This important festival, celebrated in Bengal on the fifth day in the month of Magha (February/March), is marked by the worship of Saraswati. It also marks the advent of spring and the end of the long winter. It literally means ‘the fifth day of spring’.

It is known as Sirapanchami in Bihar and Orissa, when the ploughs are worshipped and the land is furrowed after the winter months.

Since this festival heralds the spring season, it is celebrated with gaiety and festivity to mark the end of the winter. The festive color yellow, symbolic of spring, plays an important part of this day. People wear yellow clothes, offer yellow flowers in worship. They visit temples and offer  prayers.

The festival itself dates back to antiquity. It is reminiscent of the festival of Vasantotsava of the ancient times, which was one of the most important celebrations as it marked the beginning of the agricultural season.

In Bengal the day is more popularly known as Saraswati Puja. The object of Saraswati worship is to achieve distinction in all academic disciplines, science and literature. This festival is celebrated with great enthusiasm in educational and cultural institutions and homes. Students place their books before the image of the goddess.

This day is also the day when small children are initiated in the process of academic education. This is done by putting a pencil in the hand of the child and guiding the child's hand in writing the alphabet: a rite symbolizing an initiation into the realm of knowledge. Some parents wait for this auspicious day for their child to begin his education

The evening witnesses the performances of plays, dance and music. Customarily, students abstain from studying on this day. Inkpots and pens are worshipped and not used to write as these objects are venerated. Musicians especially in south India place their instruments before the goddess's shrine and worship them by offering fruit, coconut, cloth, incense and oil lamps.

Early the next morning, the image of the goddess is immersed in a river, marking the end of the worship.

Festivals Index