Basant Panchami

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Hello all!! Today's post will give you a bit of information about Basant Panchami!!



Basant Panchami, also known as Vasant Panchami and Saraswati Puja, is a festival to honour the Hindu Goddess Saraswati and also marks the start of preparations for the coming of spring. The date of this festival is not fixed and may change from year to year. The celebrations also change from place to place depending on where it is being celebrated and the devotees worship focus. Basant Panchami is mainly observed by:

- India
- Napal
- Bangladesh
- Java and Bali
- Indonesia

And various other places in and around the Indian subcontinent.




Origins

This festival has been celebrated for well over a millennia and the origin stories of this festival differ from place to place. One story is as follows:

Brahma, who is thought to be the creator of the world, wanted to see his creation with his own eyes but, he was disappointed with the loneliness and silence on Earth. So, to reduce the Earthen silence, he used his powers to create an angel. This angel held a harp and at Brahma's request, began to play and sing. Her voice was soulful and brought sound to the Earth. This angel would then become known as Saraswati or Veena Vadini. 


In the 12th century, this festival was adopted by some of the Indian Muslim Sufis to mark the grave of a Muslim Sufi Saint and as such, it has been observed by the Chishti order ever since.




Customs

As is celebrated over such a wide area and by several different religions, it is hard to pinpoint specific customs but I'll do my best! Some customs of Basant Panchami are:

- Prayers are offered to Saraswati

- Saraswati is honoured by waking early and dressing in yellow

- The colour yellow is worn and yellow foods are eaten. Yellow holds significance as it is a colour of wisdom, Saraswati's favourite colour and is also the colour of the mustard flowers that start to bloom around this time

- Shiva and Parvati are given offerings of mango flowers and ears of wheat

- Surya, the Sun God, is also commemorated

- Starting something new (marriage, new job, moving house etc) is a good thing to do around this time




I think we'll leave this here!! If any of the information is incorrect or I have gotten anything wrong, please let me know so I can ammend it immediately!!


Blessings,

C )0(

👇🏻👇🏻👇🏻

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