Devotees lining up for prayer in Uttardhoka，Gairidhara。 Source：SATV

Every temples of goddess Saraswoti are crowded today, alive with the celebration of saraswoti pooja like every past years. Basanta Panchami or Shree Rishi Panchami also known as Saraswoti pooja, is a one day hindu festival celebrated by the devotees in the honour of goddess Saraswoti for having a special place in human life.

A devotee burning “diyo”， a process of showing devotion。Source：SATV

Basanta Panchami is celebrated every year with a great zeal and positivity mostly by students as Goddess Saraswoti is believed to be a goddess who blesses everyone with knowledge, intelligence, comprehension, language, music and art. So Saraswoti temple of Uttardhoka, Guweshwori, Maitidevi and others around the Kathmandu valley gets filled with devotees since early morning to pray her with sincere heart. Devotees have thronged the Saraswoti temples across the country to Worship.

Small stalls outside of Uttardhoka Sarswoti temple for this very day。

Today is regarded to be the pious day for students who start their journey of receiving education formally and write their first letter or word, for which white boards and notebooks are placed near the idol of Saraswoti in the Saraswoti Pooja function conducted by schools.

 Students are seen participating in the prayer with worshiping materials and even a new notebook in hand. “I woke up early in the morning at 6, took a bath, worshiped my textbooks and came to the school for worshiping Saraswoti mata” said Bibisha, a student of New Summit, standing in line with her mother waiting for her turn to come. The one who completed their turn were being distributed with sweets“buniya”as their Prasad。

The festival is seen as a symbol of the arrival of spring when plants begin to sprout。Winter Crops such as barley and wheat plants and plums，pear and peach trees begin to bear fruit and many flowering plants begin to bloom from this。