Significance of Vasant Panchami

                                Significance of Vasant Panchami

Vasant Panchami is celebrated every year on the fifth day of the Shukla Paksha of Magha month according to the Hindu calendar. Vasant is known as the "King of all seasons". This festival is particularly celebrated by Hindus in the Indian subcontinent, especially India and Nepal. This has also been a historical tradition of the Sikhs. In the southern states, the same day is called Sri Panchami. Hindus of the island of Bali and Indonesia, celebrate it as "Hari Raya Saraswati" (Great Day of Saraswati).

In eastern India, mainly in the states of West Bengal, Bihar, Tripura and Assam, as well as in Nepal, people visit Saraswati temples and worship Goddess Saraswati at home. In West Bengal, it is one of the major festivals for Bengali Hindus and is celebrated in many homes. It is known as "Haate-Khori" among Bengali Hindus. In the state of Odisha, the festival is celebrated as Basant Panchami/Sri Panchami/Saraswati Puja. In southern states like Andhra Pradesh, the same day is called Sri Panchami.

On this day, Goddess Saraswati is worshiped full of knowledge, speech, intelligence, wisdom, learning and all arts. Especially this day is considered very important for people associated with education and art, so this day is considered best for learning new genre, art, music etc. On this day, wearing yellow clothes and applying yellow coloured tilak on the forehead is the law of worship of Saraswati Maa. Pens, books and musical instruments are worshiped on the day of Vasant Panchami. Vasant Panchami is considered a very auspicious time for all auspicious works. The worship of Nagraj Takshak is also prevalent on this day. Madonotsav is also celebrated on this day. Come let us know why Takshak is worshiped along with Mother Saraswati on Basant Panchami.

 The worship of Lord Vishnu and Pitardev is especially important in the month of Magh. Also different deities of each Tithi are worshiped at the time of their Tithi. Nagraj is the deity of Panchami Tithi. Worshiping the snake god on this date does not cause fear of poison, a woman and a son are obtained. This is Lakshmiprada tithi.

 Panchami Tithi of Shravan month and Magha month is considered very important. In the month of Magha, on the fifth day of Shukla Paksha, Basant Panchami is celebrated and Goddess Saraswati is also worshiped on this day. According to astrology, the lord of Panchami Tithi is Snake. Eight snakes are worshiped mainly on this day. The names of the Ashtnagas are Ananta, Vasuki, Padma, Mahapadma, Takshaka, Kulir, Karkata and Shankha.

There is also a legend behind Vasant Panchami that is based on the Hindu god of love named Kamdev. Pradyumna is Cupid in the book of Krishna. Thus Vasant Panchami is also known as "Madan Panchami". Pradyumna is the son of Rukmini and Krishna. He awakens the passion of the earth (and its people) and thus the world blossoms anew. There is also a legend behind Vasant Panchami that Brahma created this universe on Vasant Panchami. However, there was complete silence and loneliness around, therefore, Brahma created a goddess to spread music and gaiety. It is said that that goddess also gave voice to humans. She came to be known as Saraswati.

Maharaja Ranjit Singh, the founder of the Sikh Empire, encouraged the celebration of Basant Panchami as a social event in Gurdwaras. In 1825, he gave 2000 rupees to distribute food to the Harmandir Sahib Gurdwara in Amritsar. They organized an annual Basant Mela and sponsored kite flying as a regular feature of the fair. Maharaja Ranjit Singh also held a Darbar or Durbar in Lahore on Basant Panchami which lasted for ten days when soldiers wore yellow colored clothes and showed their military might. Sikhs also remember the martyrdom of Hakikat Rai on Basant Panchami, who was arrested by the Muslim ruler Khan Zakaria Khan on false charges of insulting Islam. Rai was given the option of converting to Islam or dying, and refusing to convert, was martyred on Basant Panchami of 1745 in Lahore, Pakistan.

 Lord Shiva and Nagdevta are worshiped every year on Shukla Panchami of Magh month. If you are keeping a fast on this day, then take one meal on the day of Chaturthi and fasting on the day of Panchami, food is taken in the evening. To worship the serpents, their picture or idol is installed on a wooden plate and worshiped. The idol is worshiped by offering turmeric, kanku, roli, rice and flowers and then mixing raw milk, ghee, sugar and offering it to the snake idol. After worshiping, the aarti of the snake deity is performed. In the end, definitely listen to the story of Nag Panchami. Many people go to Shiva temple and worship the snake deity.