Saraswati Puja falls on Basanta Panchami, the fifth day of the waxing Moon in Magh, and it is the festival Bengal's students call their own. Every school, college, club and many homes install a clay image of the goddess in white. Girls wear saris of basanti yellow, often for the first time; books, pens and instruments are laid before her; and the fast is kept only until the morning anjali is offered.
The story
Saraswati is the goddess of learning, music and speech. Small children are given Hate Khari on this day: an elder guides the child's hand to write the first letters on a slate.
The festival has a rule every Bengali child knows: no eating kul, the jujube berry that ripens in this season, until it has first been offered to the goddess. And for a generation it has also been called Bengal's own Valentine's Day, the one day teenagers are out together unsupervised.
সরস্বতী মহাভাগে বিদ্যে কমললোচনে । বিশ্বরূপে বিশালাক্ষি বিদ্যাং দেহি নমোঽস্তুতে ॥
Saraswati, most blessed, who are knowledge, lotus-eyed; whose form is the universe, wide-eyed one: give me learning. I bow to you
The mantra of the anjali
How the day goes
- AnjaliFlowers offered three times with the mantra, on an empty stomach.
- Books at her feetTextbooks, inkpot and a reed pen are placed before the image; no one studies.
- Hate KhariA child's first writing.
- Khichuri bhogKhichuri, labra, kuler chutney and payesh, served at schools and clubs.
- Kite flyingIn parts of Bengal the day is spent on the roof with kites.
Why this date
Saraswati Puja is the Panchami of the bright fortnight of Magh, on the day it is present at sunrise.
Saraswati Puja in other years
| Year | Date | Day |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Monday | |
| 2026 | Friday | |
| 2027 | Thursday | |
| 2028 | Tuesday | |
| 2029 | Friday | |
| 2030 | Thursday |
More Bengali festivals
15 FebruaryMaha Shivaratriমহা শিবরাত্রি
3 MarchDol Purnimaদোলযাত্রা
15 AprilPoila Boishakhপয়লা বৈশাখ
26 MarchRam Navamiরাম নবমী
2 AprilHanuman Jayantiহনুমান জয়ন্তী
19 AprilAkshaya Tritiyaঅক্ষয় তৃতীয়া
Where to see Saraswati Puja
In West Bengal
- Kumortuli, KolkataWest BengalThe potters' quarter, lined with thousands of small Saraswatis in the week before.
- SantiniketanWest BengalTagore's university keeps the day in the open, under the trees.
- College Street, KolkataWest BengalThe book market and the old colleges around it, each with its own puja.
Across India
- CuttackOdishaOdisha's students keep the same day in the same way.
- BasarTelanganaThe Saraswati temple on the Godavari, where children are started on their letters.
- GuwahatiAssamAssam's schools and colleges hold the puja on the same morning.