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By Meera Sashitala (Source: Free Press Journal)
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.
Saraswati literally means 'the flowing one'. In Rigveda it is said she represents a river and the deity presiding over it. In the later mythology, Saraswati was identified with Vach or Speech. The `flowing one' in allegorical sense may mean speech also; perfect speech which denotes intelligence. On this Vasant Panchami day, Brahma is said to have created Saraswati and infused speech into her and bestowed the Vina in her hands. She was thus named as 'Veena Vandini (Vina player) and 'Vani Dayyani'recipient of speech). As the spouse of Brahma and the goddess of wisdom and eloquence, She is known by various names such as Vinapani (due to holding the Vina), Sharada (giver of essence), Vagisvari (mistress of speech), Brahmi (wife of Brahma), Mahavidya (knowledge supreme) and so on.
In the Maratha countries, Goddess Saraswati is sometimes called the wife of Ganesh and sometimes his attendant. At the name-giving ceremony in marriage, if a man's name, for instance, is Ganesha, his wife is named Saraswati, just as a Ramachandra's wife is named Sita, or a Krishna's wife is named, after his spouse Rukmini.
Vasant Panchami is also known as Shri Panchami. As Saraswati Puja, it is observed religiously almost in all parts of India expecially in Bengal. Goddess Saraswati being pure and white and representing learning, no animal sacrifice is made to her. Idols of Saraswati are brought and worshipped.
Floral offerings are made in a big scale. Books, articles, instruments of music and arts are placed before her. In the evening after the Puja is over, the idol is immersed in the sea with serenity unlike other major festivals. In all educational institutions of music, arts and science, Saraswati Puja is observed with great reverence. Legend has it that on this day Lord Shiva burnt the God of Love, Cupid of Kamadev. Lord Shiva was lost in Samadhi and to break his Samadhi anto impassion him to beget a son powerful enough to kill the demon Tarakasur, Gods send Cupid the God of Love. Cupid or Kamadev discharges an arrow at Lord Shiva from behind a tree. But, Shiva gets terribly angry and reduces Cupid or Kamadev to ashes with his third eye. The Festival of Vasant Panchami is observed on a grand scale in Punjab and the North when the mustard crop is ripe. They cook yellow rice and also wear yellow garments.
Saraswati Puja is also performed during the Navaratri or Dussehra.
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