Vasant Panchami/Saraswati Puja 14 February

Vasant Panchami, also called Saraswati Puja in honour of the Hindu goddess Saraswati, is a festival that marks the preparation for the arrival of spring. It is a Hindu and Sikh festival that marks preparations for the beginning of the spring season. Vasant Panchami also marks the start of preparation for Holika and Holi, which take place forty days later. The Vasant Utsava (festival) on Panchani is celebrated forty days before spring, because any season’s transition period is 40 days and, after that, the season comes into full bloom.

For many, Vasant Panchami is the festival dedicated to goddess Saraswati who is their goddess of knowledge, language, music, and all arts.She symbolizes creative energy and power in all its forms, including longing and love. The season and festival also celebrate the agricultural fields’ ripening with yellow flowers of mustard crop, which Hindus associate with Saraswati’s favourite colour. People dress in yellow saris or shirts or accessories, share yellow-coloured snacks and sweets. Some add saffron to their rice and then eat yellow cooked rice as a part of an elaborate feast.