Vasant Panchmi
Vasant Panchami heralds the advent of spring. This festival that marks the first day of spring. Vasanta means the spring. The fields are mustard yellow with the ripening of crops. Yellow is of auspicious colour - a colour of sprituality. Vasant Panchami falls on the fifth day, of Magh (January-February) Shukla or the bright of lunar. Saraswati is the consort of Lord Brahma and is the Goddess of Wisdom and Knowledge. She is the personification of knowledge - arts, science, crafts. She represents Shakti, creativity and inspiration and presents herself when the weather is complacement and Nature is in its full grandeur. It is a season of inspiration and passion.
On Vasant Panchami, Saraswati is worshipped and in Bengal it is called the Saraswati Puja. They worship her with flowers, specially with basaka (justicia gendarussa), and decorations are made chiefly with 'Ganda' (marigold_, the yellow coloured flower to represent the season - Vasanta. All ladies attire themselves in yellow and worship her. She is generally represented sitting cross-legged on a lotus or a water-lilly holding Vina. Her vehicle is swan in Bengal and peacock in some regions. Goddess Saraswati being the embodiment of intellect and wisdom is depicted as pure white in colouris knowledge is in itself the antithesis of the darkness of ignorance.
The Padmapurana describes Goddess Saraswati being seated on a white Lotus clad in a spotless white apparel with'a necklace of white beads, decked with white flowers and holding the Vina. She is sometimes described to have four hands holding Vina, aksamala (rosary) and Pushtaka (book). Saraswati is extolled by the Gandharvas, worshipped by both Devas and Asuras and adored by Munis and Rishis. She is the embodiment of universal knowledge. It seems, Goddess Saraswati has been compared by Sir William Jones to the unarmed Minerva, the Goddess of Wisdom of the Greeks and Romans. Raraswati is also compared to their nine Muses.
Vasant Panchmi :: Baisakhi :: Buddha Purnima :: Cristmas :: Desert Festival :: Diwali :: Dussehra :: Easter :: Ganesh Chaturti :: Gangaur :: Good Friday : :Gurupurab :: Holi :: Id-Ui-Fitr :: Id-Ul-Zuha :: Janmashtami :: Kumbh Mela :: Muharram :: Nagaur Fair :: Navratri :: Onam :: Pushkar Fair :: Ram Navami ::Shivaratri :: Teej :: Vishu