Basant Panchami 2023: History, Importance, and Saraswati Pooja timings

Digital Desk: Basant Panchami, also known as Vasant Panchami, Shri Panchami, and Saraswati Panchami, is a Hindu festival observed on the first day of spring, which falls on the fifth day of the month of Magha. It also marks the beginning of Holi preparations, which take place forty days after the feast. Throughout the festival, Maa Saraswati, the Hindu goddess of learning, music, and the arts, is honoured.

Basant Panchami will be observed on January 26 this year. The Panchami Tithi will begin at 12:34 PM on January 25, 2023 and end at 10:28 AM on January 26, 2023, according to drikpanchang.com. The muhurat of the event runs from 7:12 a.m. until 12:34 p.m.

Kalidasa, heartbroken over his wife's abandonment, allegedly planned to commit suicide by drowning himself in a river. When the goddess Saraswati appeared from the water and requested Kalidasa to bathe in it, he was about to do so. After then, his life transformed when he was endowed with insight and became a renowned poet.

Another legend is based on the Hindu god of love, Kama, and according to folklore, following the death of Lord Shiva's wife Sati, Kamadeva once broke Lord Shiva's meditation. Seers approached Kama, requesting that Shiva be awakened from his meditation so that he might reconnect with the world and see Maa Parvati's efforts for him.

Kama agreed and shot arrows made of flowers and bees at Shiva with his sugarcane-made bow. Kama was destroyed by Lord Shiva's third eye, which had become enraged. After Rati (his wife) finished a 40-day fast, Shiva vowed to resurrect him on Basant Panchami.

The colour yellow has a lot of meaning on this day. For the event, people dress in yellow, worship the goddess Saraswati, and eat traditional delicacies. Yellow represents both knowledge and mustard fields, which herald the arrival of spring.

Basant Panchami is celebrated with slightly different rituals across the country, and beautiful traditional meals are made and savoured on this day. While kite flying is popular in the north, notably in Punjab and Haryana, it is celebrated as Saraswati Puja in the east, particularly in West Bengal.

In the southern states, it is known as Sri Panchami. In Gujarat, bouquets and garlands are made with mango leaves and exchanged as gifts. On this day, people in the Indian states of Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, and Uttar Pradesh worship Shiva and Parvati.