What is Basant/Vasant Panchami and why it is celebrated?

Basant Panchmi or Vasant Panchmi, a very famous festival of India, is celebrated on the fifth day of the bright fortnight of the lunar month of ‘Magh’. It is a bright day where everybody is elated and worships different gods depending on their preference and beliefs.

Goddess Saraswati

Many people worship goddess Saraswati, the Hindu deity of learning, arts and music on this day. It is believed that her birthday falls on this day and thus, people visit temples to worship her. They even wear yellow and/or white clothes symbolic of Saraswati Devi. The festival signifies that knowledge is supreme, and it wins over ignorance. Educational institutions celebrate this festival with a lot of regards. Even singers, musicians do revere the Saraswati Devi this day.

Kamadeva and Rati

It is remembered as the historic day when Goddess Parvati approached the Kamadeva in order to wake up Lord Shiva from his Yogic meditation, which he had been practising since Maha Shivratri. Not only Goddess Parvati herself approached the Kama, but the other gods also supported Parvati to seek Kama's help to bring Shiva back from his meditation. As a result, Kama agreed and with the help of special arrows made of flowers, he tried hard to wake up Shiva to pay heed to Parvati. This contribution of Kama is celebrated by Hindus as Vasant Panchami, and therefore, Kamadeva and Rati are also worshipped by some people on this day.

Deo Temple

The Sun God is worshipped in Aurangabad to mark the founding of the Deo Sun God shrine by King Aila of Allahabad years back on this day.

Mother Ganga

Some people offer special respect to Ganges river, as it offers food, prosperity and well being for the natives of India.

By worshipping different gods and goddesses on this day, the man basically gets reminded of his inferiority to the supreme almighty. God is all pervasive and omnipotent and we are merely his subjects.