Vasanta Pañcamī

When it falls

The fifth lunar day (pañcamī) of the bright half of Māgha, in late January or February. It is forty days before Holī and the first sign of spring.

The Phala almanac gives the exact day for your own city; the lunar and solar rules above are what it computes from.

The story

Sarasvatī is the goddess of speech, learning and music, white-clad, seated on a lotus or a swan with a book, a rosary and the vīṇā (a long-necked lute) in her four hands. The day is held to be her birthday, and the day she gave speech to Brahmā's creation, which until then was silent.

Yellow is the day's colour, for the mustard fields of the north in full flower and for the coming warmth. Kāmadeva, the god of desire, is remembered as well, since spring is his; in Punjab and in Lahore before Partition, Basant was the kite festival of the year.

How the day is kept

• Sarasvatī Pūjā: books, pens, instruments and tools are set before the Goddess and not used for the day.
• Children are taught their first letters, with a finger guided in a tray of rice (akṣarābhyāsa or vidyārambha); schools and universities across Bengal, Bihar and Odisha hold the pūjā with the students in yellow.
• Yellow clothes, yellow rice and sweets, and marigolds; the day is held auspicious for weddings and housewarmings without checking the almanac.
• Kites in Punjab and Haryana, and in Rajasthan; Sufi shrines of the north, Nizamuddin in Delhi among them, keep Basant with yellow flowers and qawwālī.

At the table

Kesar bhāt or meethe chāwal, sweet yellow saffron rice; in Bengal khichuṛi with the pūjā, and kul (jujube), which is not eaten until the Goddess has been offered it.

More spring and the seasons