Holy Dip in Sangam, Saraswati Puja: This is How India is Celebrating Basant Panchami 2024

New Delhi: On the occasion of Basant Panchami, devotees gathered at Sangam in Uttar Pradesh's Prayagraj on Wednesday morning. 

While observing the fourth bathing festival of the ongoing 'Magh Mela' in Uttar Pradesh, thousands of devotees took a holy dip in Sangam in Prayagraj. 

Meanwhile, in Tripura, The Chief Minister Manik Saha inaugurated a 40 feet -idol of Goddess Saraswati on the eve of Basant Panchami at Ward No 40 Agartala Municipal Corporation, Agartala Tripura under his Assembly Constituency. 

Meanwhile, in Mumbai, the Bengali community is all set to celebrate the festival with zest and fervour. 

Saraswati Puja will be performed by the Durga Bari Samiti at Tejpall, Grant Road at 9.00 an onwards. The committee has installed a 7 feet tall clay idol of the goddess with classic pair of white swans on the sides. The statue will be immersed today morning. 

In Delhi, the Sarswati puja will be celebrated in various place including Kali Bari, Sonia Vihar Saraswati Puja Pandal, Dwarka sector 22. 

The Hindu festival of Basant Panchami, also known as Vasant Panchami, Shri Panchami, and Saraswati Panchami, is celebrated on the first day of spring and falls on the fifth day of the month of Magha. It also heralds the start of Holi preparations, which take place forty days following the feast. Maa Saraswati, the Hindu goddess of learning, music, and the arts, is honoured throughout the festival.

According to legend, Kalidasa, distraught over his wife's abandonment, planned to commit suicide by drowning himself in a river. He was about to do so when the goddess Saraswati appeared in the water and invited Kalidasa to bathe in it. His life changed after that, when he was endowed with wisdom and became a great poet.

Throughout the nation, Basant Panchami is celebrated with slightly diverse customs, and wonderful traditional foods are prepared and savoured on this day. While kite flying is popular in North India, particularly in Punjab and Haryana, it is celebrated as Saraswati Puja in the east of the country, such as West Bengal.

It is known as Sri Panchami in the southern states. Flowers are exchanged as gifts in Gujarat, where bouquets and garlands are decorated with mango leaves. On this day, people worship Shiva and Parvati in the Indian states of Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, and Uttar Pradesh. (With inputs from ANI)