Vasant Panchami's significance

The significance of Vasanth Panchami
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Today/ tomorrow happens to be Vasanth Panchami day, and I wanted to share some of my thoughts on this.

Vasant Panchami ( or Basant Panchami) falls usually on the fifth day of the Magh month (Jan-Feb cycle). "vasanth" refers to वसन्त ऋथु or Spring season... "panchami" literally is the fifth day.

This day marks the start of spring. There is another folklore that Lord Rama gave Moksham to Shabhari on this day ( per the Ramayanam).

Climatically, this period is characterised by slightly windy conditions just right fir kite-flying. So, this day also marks kite flying activities in full vigour, especially in the Northern parts of the country.

Being the start of spring, the mood of the human mind moves on from wintry gloom to more hope, and therefore a brighter future. In line with this, everything from food to clothes reflect the colour scheme. Yellow/ orange and other bright coloured dresses are traditionally worn. Even food gets bright - Laddoos and other sweets containing saffron and dry fruits in the Eastern parts of the country, chapatis of corn and mustard vegetable (Maake ki Roti and Sarso Ka Saag) in Punjab, and in general, a lot of colourful and sweet food is shared and consumed across the country. For unknown reasons, Vasanth panchami does not to be very popular in South India, though.

The most important aspect of Vasanth Panchami is the conduct of Saraswathi Puja at home and in temples. The most common reasons for this could perhaps be traced to the following:

1. People used to have money and material on hand, right after the harvest, to be able to spend on discretionary things. Nothing used to be better than spending on Education.

2. After the wintry blues, the mood of the human mind to absorb new concepts increases significantly during spring, and so timing-wise, this is just perfect.

3. This period is also part of the Uttarayana Punyakalam. (उत्तरायणम्). Modern science has established that during the movement of the Sun towards the North ( which is what Uttarayanam- the Northern journey), the effect of planetary positions is found to enhance our creativity/ learning abilities.

4. Remember, in olden days, the pupil had to travel to a village or region different from his place of residence. the pupil used to do what is referred to as Gurukula Vaasam - living with the guru at his home, and serving him and his family, and learning in the process. Winter is not the best time to start any of this, and the start of spring is just right - only just for travelling long distances by foot to a new location, but also to be able to absorb the learning.

As a side note, as per Astrologolical science, Vasanth panchami is considered very auspicious ( Abhujha day).

In line with this, Saraswathi is worshipped, and people pray for enhancing their knowledge base. All good initiatives are traditionally started on this day as well. Akshara Abhyasam अक्षर अभ्यासं is quite often done on this day, where toddlers and kids are initiated into learning on this day. In South India, a lot of this done now a days on Vijaya Dashami day.

The point I would to bring in is, many of our festivals have the climatic conditions their their impact on the human psyche in mind in line with our "way of life approach" all around.

Also, remember, this practice is only applicable to India - if, for example, you live in Australia or South Africa, this may not be just right for you, beign located in teh Southern Hemisphere

❣D❣