Basant Panchami

Basant Panchami

Basant Panchami is one of the six seasons (Ritus) which corresponds to Spring. It is celebrated every year on the fifth day (panchami) of the Indian month of Magh.

In the Vedas the day is dedicated to Goddess Saraswati. She is worshipped as the Goddess of speech and learning who bestows the greatest wealth to humanity, the wealth of knowledge.

The festival is celebrated with great fervour and enthusiasm. Men, women, girls and boys wear yellow clothes. The yellow colour is a sign of auspiciousness and spirituality. It also represents prosperity, happiness, intellect and energy. The colour signifies the ripening of the spring crops. The yellow flowers of mustard crop cover the entire fields in such a way that it seems as if gold is spread over the land glittering with the rays of the sun.

People wear yellow clothes, offer yellow flowers in prayers and put a yellow tilak on their forehead. Kesar halwa (yellow in colour), boiled rice dyed in saffron and traditional sweets of yellowish hues are prepared.

The festival heralds the onset of spring and the end of winters in North India as beautifully stated as “aayi basant paala uddant” (winters will blow away on the arrival of basant).

It is traditional to undertake kite flying on the day of basant panchami. The event is filled with a lot of enthusiasm, cheering and thrill. The grounds and terraces of buildings are full of people in yellow clothes and the sky is full of colourful kites. Songs are played at high volume and people dance with rhythm while flying kites. They also indulge in what can be termed as ‘kite-fights’. The joy and cheering on cutting an opponent’s kite has to be seen to be experienced and no words can describe that feeling. At various places even judges are appointed and prizes for the best kite flyer, most beautiful kite, biggest kite etc are also awarded.

The festival is however losing its appeal due to the supposedly busy schedule and ‘couldn’t care less’ attitude of the people. A little effort from all in the neighbourhood is all that is needed to keep this tradition alive.