The festival is celebrated with full vivacity and festivity to mark the end of the winters. It is one of the first festivals of the Year and is celebrated all over India. The festival is celebrated with full vivacity and festivity to mark the end of the winters. It is one of the first festivals of the Year and is celebrated all over India.

Goddess Saraswati is worshipped for spiritual enlightenment, the greatest wealth to man. The goddess is a favorite of religious and spiritual leaders. She encompasses Learning, Wisdom and the Fine Arts. Hindu folklore puts the Learned on a higher pedestal than even the king.

All get up in the early morning, take bath and worship the sun, Mother Ganga, the Deity of the sacred river Ganges, and the earth. Men, women and girls wear yellow cloth. The yellow colour is a sign of auspiciousness and spirituality. It represents the ripening of the spring crops. Even the food is coloured yellow by using saffron. All the folk get together and sing songs connected with spring. Indeed, yellow colour is given special importance on this day. The goddess Saraswati is dressed in yellow garments and worshipped by men and women attired in yellow.

On the holyday of ‘Vasant Panchami’, people get dressed in yellow. Yellow has a special significance, since the color of the Goddess’s attire itself is yellow. Some people dye their duppatas (stoles) and saris and turn them yellow.

Sweetmeats and yellow colors are distributed among close relations. Saffron is also added to the food in order to bring the yellow color. ‘Kesari Halwa’ (a sweet dish, prepared with Saffron) is prepared among the North Indian people.

Worship Goddess-Sarasvati :

The day of Basant Panchami is dedicated to Goddess Sarasvati. Sarasvati is the goddess of learning who bequeaths the greatest wealth to humanity, the wealth of knowledge. Hindu mythology depicts Sarasvati as a pristine lady bedecked with white attire, white flowers and white pearls, sitting on a white lotus, which blooms in a wide stretch of water. The Goddess also holds Veena, a string-instrument, like Sitar, for playing music. The prayer of Sarasvati finally concludes as, "Oh Mother Sarasvati remove the darkness (ignorance) of my mind and bless me with the eternal knowledge."