Basant Panchami 2024 • Saraswati Puja Date, Muhurat in February, 2024

The festival of Basant Panchami (Hindi: बसंत पंचमी, Gujarati: વસંતપંચમી, Punjabi: ਬਸੰਤ ਪੰਚਮੀ) or Vasant Panchami is also known as ‘Saraswati Panchami’ or ‘Shri Panchami’ is a popular festival in India. On this day Hindus offer Saraswati Puja to worship Goddess Saraswati, the Goddess of wisdom, knowledge, arts and music, with complete devotion and gaiety.

Basant Panchami is celebrated on the ‘Panchami’ (5th day) of the Shukla Paksha (bright fortnight of moon) in the month of ‘Magha’ in Hindu calendar, which corresponds to the month of January-February in the English calendar. It marks the beginning of the spring season or Vasant Ritu in India.

Basant Panchami 2024 is on February 14, Wednesday

8 months and 2 days to go for the event

Basant Panchami Puja Muhurt : February 13, 2:42 pm - February 14, 12:41 pm

Basant Panchami is a unique Hindu festival that is celebrated with different names in different regions. It is observed as ‘Sufi Basant’ in Sufi shrines, in Punjab and other adjoining regions it is celebrated as ‘Basant Festival of Kites’, in Gurudwara it is observed as ‘Sikh Festival’, in the state of Bihar, it is celebrated as ‘Harvest Festival’ and the birth anniversary of ‘Deo-Sun God’. In these regions, Vasant Panchami is celebrated with different rituals and traditions; however the essence of celebrations remains the same everywhere.

Hindu followers all over the world observe basant panchami festivities with great enthusiasm and dedication.

Vasant Panchami Celebrations:

Basant Panchami is a festival dedicated to Goddess Saraswati. There is no specified time for performing Saraswati puja on this day, however it is stated that all the rituals should be perform when the ‘Panchami’ (5th day) tithi is prevailing.

On the day of Basant Panchami, people dress up in yellow clothes. Yellow is a color that signifies vibrancy of life and vividness of nature. Young girls particularly adorn bright yellow dresses and participate in the festivities. Yellow is also known to be the color of love, prosperity and purity.

The devotees get up early and begin preparations for worshipping Goddess Saraswati. The idols of Saraswati are beautifully adorned and devotees offer prayers with full devotion. On this day yellow colored flowers are offered to Goddess Saraswati and special bhog of ‘Kesar Halwa’ made from flour, nuts, sugar and cardamom powder is prepared. This preparation also includes saffron strands giving it mild fragrance and vibrant yellow color. Havan and other puja rituals are performed on this day. After the puja, the Prasad is distributed among all the students and devotees.

The day of Vasant Panchami holds special significance for students. As Saraswati is the Goddess of wisdom and knowledge, students worship Her with immense fervour and zeal. They keep their notebooks, pens and pencils near Goddess Saraswati’s feet and ask for enlightenment. The day of Vasant Panchami is also considered auspicious for initiating studies in young children. This tradition is called ‘’Vidya Arambham’ or ‘Akshar Abhyasam’ and is very predominant in different parts of the country. Schools and colleges organize special events on this day.

In some regions of northern India, particularly Punjab and Haryana, the tradition if Kite flying on the day of Vasant Panchami is very renowned. Children and adults both participate in the different kite-flying competitions.

Basant Panchami 2024 - Saraswati Puja Muhurat, Other Important Timings

Significance of Basant Panchami:

The term ‘Vasant’ implies ‘Spring’ and ‘Panchami’ denotes ‘fifth day’. Therefore it s celebrated n the 5th day of Spring season. This festival terminates the old winter waves and welcomes the vibrancy of the spring season. On the day of Vasant Panchami, devotees offer prayers to Goddess Saraswati and seek Her divine blessings to get enlightened with wisdom and knowledge. They also ask for getting rid of sluggishness, lethargy and ignorance. Many astrologers believe the day of Vasant Panchami to be ‘Abhuja’, implying that it is auspicious for doing any good work all day long. The festival of Vasant Panchami therefore holds immense religious, social and seasonal significance in Hinduism and is celebrated with full optimism in most parts of the world.