| Vasant Panchami | |
|---|---|
 Saraswati by Raja Ravi Varma (print) | |
| Observed by | Hindus, Sikhs and Jains inIndia,Nepal,Bangladesh,Java andBali (Indonesia and many other countries)[1] |
| Type | Cultural |
| Significance | Spring, harvest, Goddess Saraswati[1] |
| Celebrations | Worship of Goddess Saraswati[1][2] |
| Date | Magha Shukla Panchami |
| 2024 date | 14 February (Wednesday) |
| 2025 date | 2 February (Sunday) |
| 2026 date | 23 January (Friday) |
| Explanatory note on Hindu festival dates | |
|---|---|
TheHindu calendar is lunisolar but most festival dates are specified using the lunar portion of the calendar. A lunar day is uniquely identified by three calendar elements:māsa (lunar month),pakṣa (lunar fortnight) andtithi (lunar day). Furthermore, when specifying the masa, one of two traditions are applicable, viz.amānta /pūrṇimānta. If a festival falls in the waning phase of the moon, these two traditions identify the same lunar day as falling in two different (but successive) masa. A lunar year is shorter than a solar year by about eleven days. As a result, most Hindu festivals occur on different days in successive years on the Gregorian calendar. | |
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Vasant Panchami , also renderedVasanta Panchami[3][4] andSaraswati Puja in honour of the Hindu goddessSaraswati, is a festival that marks the preparation for the arrival ofspring. The festival is celebrated inIndian religions in different ways depending on the region. Vasant Panchami also marks the start of preparation forHolika andHoli, which take place forty days later.[5] The Vasant Utsava (festival) onPanchami is celebrated forty days before spring, because any season's transition period is 40 days, and after that, the season comes into full bloom.
Vasant Panchami is celebrated every year on the fifth day of the bright half of the Hindulunisolar calendar month ofMagha, which typically falls in late January or February. Spring is known as the "King of all Seasons", so the festival commences forty days in advance. It is generallywinter-like innorthern India, and more spring-like in central and western parts of India on Vasant Panchami, which gives credence to the idea that spring is actually in full bloom 40 days after the Vasant Panchami day.[6]
The festival is particularly observed by Hindus in the Indian subcontinent, notablyIndia andNepal.[7][5] In southern states, the same day is calledSri Panchami.[6]
On the island ofBali and theHindus of Indonesia, it is known as "Hari Raya Saraswati" (great day of Saraswati). It also marks the beginning of the 210-day long BalinesePawukon calendar.[8]
Vasant Panchami is a Hindu festival that marks the beginning of preparations for the spring season. Celebrations vary by region. Vasant Panchami also marks the start of preparation for Holika or Holi, which occur forty days later. For many, Vasant Panchami is dedicated to goddessSaraswati, revered as the deity of knowledge, language, music, and all arts.[7] She symbolizes creative energy and power in all its forms, including longing and love. The season and festival also celebrate the blooming of yellow mustard flowers, which are linked with Saraswati's favorite color. People wear yellow clothing or accessories, and eat yellow-colored foods.[7]
Many families mark this day by sitting with young children, encouraging their children to write their first words, and some study or create music together.[7][6][9] The day before Vasant Panchami, Saraswati's temples are filled with food so that she can join the celebrants in the traditional feasting the following morning.[9] In temples and educational institutions,murtis of Saraswati are dressed in yellow and worshiped.[9] Many educational institutions arrange special prayers orpujas in the morning to seek her blessings. Poetic and musical gatherings are held in some communities in her honor.[10]
In Eastern India, primarily inWest Bengal,Assam,Tripura,Bihar, as well as inNepal, devotees visit Saraswati temples and also worship Goddess Saraswati at home (Saraswati Puja). In West Bengal, the festival is widely celebrated byBengali Hindus; most schools arrange Saraswati puja for their students on their premises. InBangladesh too, all major educational institutes and universities observe it with a holiday and a special puja.[citation needed]
In the state ofOdisha, the festival is celebrated as Basanta Panchami, Sri Panchami, or Saraswati Puja.Homas andyagnas are performed in schools and colleges across the state. Usually, children aged four or five begin their formal education, known asKhadi-Chuan orVidya-Arambha.[11] This is alternatively known asHaate-Khori among Bengali Hindus.[citation needed]
In southern states such asAndhra Pradesh, the festival is known asSri Panchami where "Sri" refers to Saraswati as a manifestation of goddessDevi.[10][12][6]
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Vasant Panchami is also associated withKamadeva, the god of love.[13] Kamadeva is reborn asPradyumna, the son of Krishna and Rukmini. The festival is also known as "Madana Panchami". He awakens the passions of the earth (and its people) and thus the world blooms anew.
It is remembered as the day whenrishis (sages) requested Kama to interrupt Shiva'syogic meditation. SupportingParvati–who was performing penance to gainShiva as her husband–the rishis seek Kama's help to arouse Shiva's worldly desires. Kama agrees and shoots an arrow, made of flowers and bees, to stir Shiva's desires. When Shiva awakens from his meditation, he opens his third eye, and Kama is burned to ashes. This initiative is celebrated by Hindus as Vasant Panchami.[7][13]
Vasant Panchami is associated with the emotions of love and emotional anticipation in Kutch (Gujarat) and is celebrated by preparing bouquets and garlands of flowers set with mango leaves, as a gift. People dress in saffron, pink, or yellow and visit each other. Songs about Krishna's pranks with Radha, considered to mirror Kama-Rati, are sung.[14] This is symbolized with the Hindu deity Kama with his wifeRati.[10][9]
Traditionally, inMaharashtra,Madhya Pradesh,Chhattisgarh andUttar Pradesh, after bathing in the morning, people worshipShiva andParvati. Offerings of mango flowers and the ears of wheat are traditionally made.[15]
The shrine of the Sun God inAurangabad district, Bihar known as the Deo-Sun Shrine, was established on Basant Panchami. The day is celebrated to commemorate the founding of the shrine by King Aila ofAllahabad and the birthday of the Sun-Deo God. The statues are washed and old red clothes on them are replaced with new ones on Basant Panchami. Devotees sing, dance and play musical instruments.[16]
People celebrate the day by wearing yellow (white), eating sweet dishes and displaying yellow flowers in homes. InRajasthan, it is customary for people to wear jasmine garlands.[18] InMaharashtra, newly married couples visit a temple and offer prayers on the first Basant Panchami after the wedding. wearing yellow dresses. In the Punjab region, Hindus wear a yellow turban or headdress. InUttarakhand, in addition to Saraswati Puja, people worship Shiva, Parvati as the mother earth and the crops or agriculture. People eat yellow rice and wear yellow. It is also a significant school supplies shopping and related gift-giving season.[6]
In thePunjab region, Basant is celebrated as a seasonal festival by all faiths and is known as theBasant Festival of Kites. Children buydor (thread) andguddi orpatang (kites) for the sport. The people of the Punjab wear yellow clothes and eat yellow rice to emulate the yellow mustard (sarson) flower fields, or play byflying kites.[2][19][6] According to Desai (2010), the tradition of flying kites on various festivals is also found in northern and western Indian states: Hindus in Rajasthan and especially in Gujarat associate kite flying with the period prior toUttarayan; inMathura (Uttar Pradesh), kites are flown on Dussehra; inBengal kite flying takes place onViskwakarma Puja in September. The sport is also found in Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and parts of south India.[17]
OnBali and amongIndonesian Hindus, Hari Raya Saraswati (the festival's local name) is celebrated with prayers in family compounds, educational institutions, and public venues from morning to noon. Teachers and students wear brightly coloured clothes instead of their usual uniforms, and children bring traditional cakes and fruit to school for offerings in a temple.[20]
Namdhari Sikhs have historically celebrated Basant Panchami to mark the beginning of spring.[21] Other Sikhs treat it as a spring festival, and joyfully celebrate it by wearing yellow colored clothes, emulating the bright yellow mustard flowers in the fields.[2]
Maharaja Ranjit Singh, the founder of theSikh Empire, encouraged the celebration of Basant Panchami as a social event in the Gurdwaras. In 1825 CE he gave 2,000 rupees to theHarmandir Sahib Gurdwara inAmritsar to distribute food.[22] He held an annual Basant fair and sponsored kite flying as a regular feature of the fairs.[23] Maharaja Ranjit Singh and his queen Moran would dress in yellow and fly kites on Basant Panchami.[24] Maharaja Ranjit Singh would also hold a darbar or court inLahore on Basant Panchami which lasted ten days when soldiers would dress in yellow and show their military prowess.[25]
In theMalwa region, the festival of Basant Panchami is celebrated with wearing of yellow dress and kite flying.[26] InKapurthala andHoshiarpur, a Basant Panchami fair is held. People attend the fair wearing yellow clothes, turbans or accessories.[27] Sikhs also remember the martyrdom of the childHaqiqat Rai on Basant Panchmi, who was arrested by the Muslim ruler Khan Zakariya Khan after being falsely accused of insulting Islam. Rai was given the choice of converting to Islam or death and, having refused conversion, was executed on the Basant Panchami of 1741 in Lahore, Pakistan.[28][29][30]
Nihangs go toPatiala on Basant Panchami and dress in pink and yellow on the month ofVaisakh (not only Basant Panchami day).[31]
Kite flying in Lahore goes back centuries. After creation of Pakistan it evolved into a highly competitive sport which is not limited to "basant" only. There are regional teams, competitions, and trophies. Kite And string making is an industry all over central Punjab providing livelihood to thousands.
Given the shared history and culture in the Indian subcontinent, thePunjabi Muslims in and aroundLahore also celebrate kite flying as a sport in Pakistan from home rooftops during the Basant season.[17] In 2003, theSupreme Court of Pakistan attempted to ban the manufacture, trade, and flying of kites in Lahore on the basis of fatal incidents involving 'glass-coated' stray strings originally used in kite-battles in Lahore.[32] In 2005 Lahore announced that Vasant Panchami could be celebrated in a forest outside of Lahore. In 2017 the ban on Vasant Panchami was briefly lifted and reimposed.[33]
According to Lochan Singh Buxi, Basant Panchmi is a Hindu festival adopted by some Indian MuslimSufis in the 12th century to mark the grave of the Muslim Sufi saintdargah of Nizamuddin Aulia in Delhi and ever since, has been observed by the Chishti order.[34] According to local Sufi traditions, the poetAmir Khusrau saw Hindu women carry yellow flowers to a temple on Basant and they were dressed in yellow, and he adopted their culture to give some happiness to Nizamuddin Aulia because his nephew died few days ago and he was not recovering from grief, one the Chishti order of Sufi Indian Muslims continue to practice.[35]
Vasant Panchami has been a historic occasion of dispute at the archaeological site ofBhojshala (Dhar, Madhya Pradesh) with evidence of an early Saraswati temple (locally called Waghdevi). On the site of Bhojshala is a later era Kamal-Maula mosque, which Muslims use for Friday prayers. TheArcheological Survey of India (ASI) has provided annual guidelines, when the Vasant Panchami festival falls on a Friday, announcing hours when Hindus can worship at Bhojshala on Vasant Panchami, and when Muslims can. However, in past years, the Muslim community scheduled earlier has refused to vacate the premises, leading to riots and disorder such as in the 1980s and 1990s.[36][37][38]
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