Basant Panchami 2022: Date, time, and significance of Saraswati Puja

By Pankaj Khanna

The auspicious time to worship on Basant Panchami Muhurat in 2022 starts at 06:45 AM to 12:34 PM.

Panchami Tithi Begins – 03:47 AM on Feb 05, 2022
Panchami Tithi Ends – 03:46 AM on Feb 06, 2022

Vasant/Basant Panchami day is dedicated to Goddess Saraswati, who is the Goddess of knowledge, music, arts, science and technology. Basant Panchami is also known as Shri Panchami and Saraswati Panchami.

The image of Goddess Saraswati depicts her sitting on a vehicle that symbolizes her supreme power. The white swan of Saraswati symbolizes Satwa Guna (purity and discrimination), the lotus of Lakshmi the Rajas Guna and the tiger of Durga the Tamas Guna. Saraswati is shown possessing four hands and plays “Veena”, an Indian string musical instrument. Vasant Panchami is essentially a form of nature worship – welcoming the blossoming nature after the harsh winter. Vasant Panchami (vasant meaning “spring” and panchami meaning “fifth”) is a festival that falls on the fifth day of the Hindu lunar month of Magha (January-February in the Western calendar) marking the beginning of winter’s end and the coming of spring. Spring not only brings warm relief from the cold of winter, but it is also the time when the mustard crop blooms flowers of yellow, a color that symbolizes knowledge, light, energy, prosperity, and peace thus it is thus considered an auspicious time to begin new ventures, like getting married, buying a house, or starting a job.

Vasant Panchami is celebrated in various ways depending on the devotee’s focus of worship. On the day of Vasant Panchami, devotees offer prayers to Goddess Saraswati and seek her divine blessings to get enlightened with wisdom and knowledge. Many honor the Goddess Saraswati by waking up early and dressing in yellow (believed to be her favorite color), clothes as it signifies vibrancy of life and vividness of nature Eating and sharing yellow sweets and snacks, and performing puja to her deity. Because Saraswati is the goddess of learning and wisdom, she is also prayed to by students who want to be successful in their studies. Students, musicians, and the people related with art and literature worship goddess Saraswati with great spirituality and devotion. Others honor Shiva and Parvati by offering the couple mango flowers and ears of wheat, while others commemorate Surya.

The day is considered opportune for farmers to celebrate as the agricultural fields are full of yellow flowers of the mustard crop. The day is also considered auspicious to venture into something new, get married, or perform griha pravesh.        

(The writer is Chairman, Khanna Gems. Views expressed are personal and do not reflect the official position or policy of Financial Express Online. Reproducing this content without permission is prohibited).