About Maa Saraswati

Vasant Panchami, also spelled Basant Panchami, is a Hindu spring festival.

It is observed on the fifth day of the Indian traditional calendar month

of Magha, which typically falls in the Gregorian months of January or

February.

The festival is celebrated in various ways depending on the region. Many

revere goddess Saraswati, the Hindu deity of learning, arts and music.She

is celebrated with visits to her temples, by playing music, as well as the

day when parents sit down with their children, initiate them into writing

letters of alphabet or study together.

Others mark it as the festival of god Kama, the Hindu deity of love, by

remembering the loved one particularly one's spouse or special friend,

celebrating it with spring flowers. Its link with the god of love and its

traditions have led some scholars to call it "a Hindu form of Valentine's Day".

Others wear yellow clothes and eat yellow rice to emulate the yellow mustard

(sarson) flower fields, or play by flying kites.

ESSENCE OF VASANT PANCHAMI

The day of Vasant Panchami is staunched to Maa Saraswati, the Goddess of knowledge,

arts, music, science and technology. On this very day, Vishnu, Radha Krishna and

Saraswati are worshipped with yellow, pink and white flowers. Apart from these,

water offerings, lamp, incense, Naivedyam (rice prepared with jaggery) and also yellow

colored halwa is presented to the almighty.

Vasant Panchami is also known as the festival of Harvest, as it signifies the blooming

flowers of mustard and hence yellow color upholds utmost significance in the celebration

of Vasant Panchami. The devotees of Goddess Saraswati adorn the idol of Goddess with yellow

sari and also the devotees wear yellow attires on this day. Also, it is considered as a

propitious occasion for the students to start their studies, marking a new beginning of

their learning period. Schools and colleges organise special prayers to worship the goddess

of wisdom. Usually the students place their books at the feet of Goddess and seek her blessing

for better learning & understanding.

POOJA VIDHI

As far as the Vidhi of Pooja is concerned, according to the time of muhurat following postulates

must be kept in mind-

1. Wake up early in the morning. Take a proper bath and wear yellow coloured clothes after that.
2. The Pooja place should be cleaned and you need to face the North or North-East direction while praying.
3. A white cloth should be placed at the Pooja place and rice & pulse should be spread on it.
4. Then Astadala Padma( eight petal lotus) is made with rice and the idol/photo of Saraswati Maa should be placed there.
5. Then flowers are to be offered followed by vermillion and then incense sticks should be burned.

After doing take Pooja Gandha, Akshata and Pushpa in the left hand leaving them over and with books

in the right hand you should chant the following mantra-

Om Shri Saraswatyai Namah। Anena Pujanena Shri Saraswati Devi Priyatam Namo Namah।

People who look forward to the spiritual enhancement can wake up early at 4 because the time from

4-6 is considered to be a Brahma Muhurat which is an auspicious time for gaining spiritual superiority.

BENEFITS OF VASANT PANCHAMI PUJA

It is considered as a propitious occasion for the students to start their studies, marking a new

beginning of their learning period. The Saraswati Pooja is highly beneficial for writers, creative thinkers

and vocal performers, especially for the singers. Saraswati is the Goddess of learning who endows humanity

with the greatest wealth i.e. knowledge. On the occasion of Vasant Panchami children are taught to write for

the first time by their mother, guru or a learned person using a chalk (khadiya) so that the child excels and

gains the best education and knowledge in the life ahead. Then after the worship of Goddess Saraswati, the

students keep their educational books underneath the idol of Goddess Saraswati. Apart from this, Brahmins are

fed and are given pulses (daal).

Goddess Saraswati is described as being white colored and wearing radiant white garments that represent

her pure Sattvic nature. She carries the vina, a musical instrument which symbolizes the vibrational harmony

of all life. She holds the Vedas (all knowledge) and a japa mala, which represents constant meditation upon the

Divine Names. While the Vedas represent knowledge and japa represents spiritual practice, by holding them both

aloft, Mother Saraswati shows us that for the attainment of any important goal—we need both knowledge and focus.