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Saraswati Puja in Bengal
Yellow and white sarees fill Bengal on Saraswati Puja, and many schoolgirls wear a saree for the first time.
What is worn for Saraswati Puja in Bengal
On Vasant Panchami, the fifth day of the bright half of Magha, Bengal worships Saraswati, goddess of learning, in homes, schools and colleges. The colour of the day is basanti, a spring yellow, and white is also worn. Girls and young women in yellow or white cotton and silk sarees, often with a marigold in the hair, are a familiar sight at school and college pujas, and for many girls it is the first time they wear a saree. Books and pens are placed before the idol and not used that day. Boys wear yellow or white panjabi. Palash flowers and kul, the jujube fruit, are part of the day. The puja is held before noon.
The sarees
Written by the EveryPallu desk with AI assistance. Background: "Vasant Panchami" on Wikipedia. Customs differ from place to place and family to family. If this is your tradition and we have it wrong, tell us.
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Tant sari: Billjones94, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Sari: Suyash.dwivedi, CC BY-SA 4.0, source