
Vasanta Pancami (the first day of
spring)
This is the first day of spring in India (Northern Hemisphere). On
the fifth day of the waxing moon one should celebrate the coming of
spring to Vrindavana by offering Krishna many types of leaves and
flowers, and fresh shoots of sprouting grasses.Things that
symbolise life and new growth.Following in the footsteps of the
Vraja-basis of Vrindavana, one should paint designs on His
(Krishna's) body and perform a special aratrika for Him. It is
appropriate to offer yellow flowers too.
The vasanta raga should be played on
this day. The Deities in the temples, especially in Vrindavana wear
yellow or yellow and green on this day.
In places like Vrindavan, Mayapur, Jagannath Puri and Udupi many of
the women folk dress in yellow also. As it is the first day of
spring many fertility rites are performed at this time - for the
family, for the women folk, for the crops, for the cows, etc. It's
a very festive time.
Many new projects are begun, weddings performed.......
fields of yellow mustard flowers growing
Local tradition:
Celebrated on the onset of spring, it marks the beginning of new
life with yellow mustard flowers starting to bloom and nature
displaying her majestic best. Thus the colour of the festival is
yellow and women can be seen dotted in saffron dresses. The puja on
this day is devoted to Saraswati and people pray for wisdom and
understanding. There are several ways in which puja is conducted on
this day. In Bengal, the place where the statue of Saraswati is
kept is decorated with a rangoli. The design of a fish is
considered auspicious. Family members bathe early in the morning
and dress in whit or yellow coloured clothes. Then they gather
around the idol, where the priest commences the puja. Aarti is
taken of the idol and the flame is passed arounfd the devotees to
warm there hands and touch there foreheads. Children place their
books at the goddesses feet. No books our touched that day,
signifying that the books are being blessed by the goddess. In
Rajsthan also the puja is conducted in a very colorful manner. The
youngest girl of the house present sets the stage for the puja by
putting a teeka on everyone's forehead. This is followed by the
devotees sprinkling water, aipun and roli on the diety. The puja
ends with the lady of the house giving a few bers, some sangaris
and a laddoo and a paan to everyone present.
