Saraswati puja or Vasant Panchami is a cultural festival which is celebrated by the Hindus and Sikhs in different regions of the country. It is also celebrated in Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Indonesia. Different regions have different ways to celebrate this festival. Vasant Panchami marks the onset of the spring season. People wear yellow clothes; eat yellow rice to emulate the yellow mustard (sarson) flower fields. People also play and fly kites to celebrate this beautiful festival.
The festival signifies spring, harvest and the goddess Saraswati. It is celebrated in months of January and February. The exact date varies every year. The festival also indicates that the time has come to start the preparation for Holika bonfire and the Holi festival, which is forty days after Vasant Panchami.
In Hindu religion, Saraswati Puja possesses great importance. This festival is dedicated to Goddess Saraswati who is the symbol of knowledge language music and all arts goddess Saraswati is an incarnation of Lord Rama which signifies a form of creative energy and power. Also many families reserve this day as the day on which their children will start writing and studying for the first time just because this festival is dedicated to goddess Saraswati, the goddess of knowledge, we all believe that it will lead to a great future and career if it is all started on this day.
In Nepal, Bihar, West Bengal, Assam and Odisha, the people celebrate this festival and visit her temples and do the worship. Most of the schools and Educational Institutes in Bangladesh celebrate this festival and observe a holiday on this festival and arrange special programs and Pooja to celebrate this festival. In Odisha, this festival is celebrated as Sri Panchami where Sri refers to the Goddess Saraswati.
