Basant Panchami 2022: Date, history, significance and more about the festival

Also known as Saraswati Puja, Basant Panchami is a festival that is celebrated to worship goddess Saraswati. The festival marks the preparation for the arrival of spring. Goddess Saraswati is also called the 'Goddess of Knowlege'. The festival also marks the start of preparation for Holika and Holi, which takes place forty days later. Families mark this day by sitting with their babies and young children, encouraging their children to write their first word with their hands.

Basant Panchami Date

This year, the festival will be celebrated on February 5, 2022. The festival is celebrated every year on the fifth day of the bright half of the Hindu lunisolar calendar month of Magha. It falls in late January or February. On Basant Panchami, it is more like winter in Northern part of India and more like summer in Southern part. The festival is celebrated by Hindus in India and Nepal. Not only this, it is also the historical tradition of Sikhs as well. The festival is denoted as Sri Panchami in Southern states.

Significance

Basant Panchami is celebrated as a spring harvest festival. The colour yellow holds a great significance denoting the color of the mustard that is harvested during Basant Panchami. It is celebrated in veneration of the yellow flowers of ripened mustard crops. People dress in yellow saris or shirts or accessories, share yellow-colored snacks and sweets. Some add saffron to their rice and then eat yellow cooked rice as a part of an elaborate feast.

To get enlightenment with knowledge, Devotees, especially from the education sector, like students, teachers, worship Goddess Saraswati on the big day. Many educational institutions arrange special prayers or pujas in the morning to seek the blessing of the goddess. Poetic and musical gatherings are held in some communities in reverence for Saraswati.

History

According to Lochan Singh Buxi, Basant Panchami is a Hindu festival adopted by some Indian Muslim Sufis in the 12th century. The festival was adopted to mark the grave of the Muslim Sufi saint dargah of Nizamuddin Aulia in Delhi and ever since, has been observed by the Chishti order.

How other states celebrate the festival

In Rajasthan, people wear jasmine garlands on Basant Panchami. In Maharashtra, newly married couples visit a temple and offer prayers on the first Basant Panchami after the wedding. In the Punjab region, Sikhs and Hindus wear yellow turban or headdress. In Uttarakhand, people worship Shiva, Parvati as the mother earth and the crops or agriculture. In the Punjab region, Basant is celebrated as a seasonal festival by all faiths and is known as the Basant Festival of Kites. Children buy dor (thread) and guddi or patang (kites) for the sport. 

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