Basant Panchami 2024: Date, significance and rituals for Saraswati Puja

The Basant Panchami celebrations hold religious significance for the Hindu community. People celebrate the day with great enthusiasm and zeal as the devotees worship Goddess Saraswati. The day is also believed to be auspicious to start learning new things.

Goddess Saraswati is depicted as a source of compassion, who has four arms holding a musical instrument called Veena, a book, and a rosary. She is shown wearing a white coloured saree which indicates the symbol of learning and purity.

However, the celebration of Basant Panchami is related to the colour yellow as it links with the beginning of the spring season. As yellow mustard flowers bloom during Basant Panchami, the yellow colour is associated with the festival.

While preparing traditional food items to mark the celebration, several parts of the country observe it by flying kites. It indicates the arrival of spring and the beginning of the joyful and playful season. Meanwhile, the delicacies that are common in most parts of the country on Basant Panchami include kheer, kesar pista, Kanchipuram idli, and sweet rice.

Meanwhile, the Basant Panchami puja contributes to having a major value in the celebration. It involves the cleaning and setting up of an altar for Goddess Saraswati and Lord Ganesha. While performing puja, the devotees lit up a diya with desi ghee while putting up a haldi tilak on the forehead of the Goddess.

People worshipping goddess Saraswati believe in keeping their ledger or books while performing the puja to get blessings.