When is Vasant Panchami?
The answer
Thursday, 11 February 2027
Saraswati puja, the fifth of Magha.
Why that day
- The tithi it is
- Magha Shukla 5
Read the ordinary way: the day whose SUNRISE this tithi is running at.
And after that
Tuesday, 1 February 2028
Magha Shukla 5
Friday, 19 January 2029
Magha Shukla 5
How this date is worked out
A festival is a position, not a date. The lunar month is named by the sidereal sign the Sun stands in at the new moon that opens it, and the tithi is the Moon's distance from the Sun in twelve-degree steps. Both come from the same ephemeris this site casts birth charts with.
North India reckons a month from full moon to full moon, so the dark fortnight carries the next month's name — the same day is Shravana Krishna Tritiya in Pune and Bhadrapada Krishna Tritiya in Delhi. These dates use the northern reckoning, and the tithi is printed above so there is nothing to take on trust.
Why it is kept
Magha Shukla Panchami — the day Saraswati appeared, and the first day of spring. The story is that Brahma made the world and it was mute; he sprinkled water from his kamandal and a goddess appeared holding a veena, touched the strings, and the world had sound. The yellow is from the mustard fields, which are in flower across the north exactly now. It is one of the three abujh muhurats of the year — anything auspicious may be done today without looking up a time, which is why children are taught their first letters on it.
The story behind it
A silent creation
Brahma made creatures and plants, and all of it was mute. No sound anywhere, no speech.
The water
With Vishnu's leave, Brahma sprinkled water from his kamandal. Where it touched the earth there was a trembling.
The one with the veena
A four-armed goddess appeared — veena in one hand, book in another, a mala in the third, the fourth raised in blessing. White cloth, a white lotus.
The first note
Brahma said: play. At the touch of the strings the world had sound — rivers their murmur, wind its rustle, creatures their speech. She was called Saraswati.
The fifth
That day was Magha Shukla Panchami. Speech, learning and art are worshipped on it.
What to keep ready
- An image of Saraswati, in white
- Yellow cloth, yellow flowers — marigold, or mustard flower
- Boondi, kesari bhat or yellow rice, the day's bhog
- Ber and sugarcane, the fruit of this season
- A veena, a book, a pen, an instrument or a tool — whatever your learning is
- White sandal, akshat, roli
- An inkpot and a new pen, for a child's first letters
- A peacock feather and turmeric
How the puja is done
1
Yellow
Bathe and wear yellow. Yellow flowers in the house and yellow food — that is simply what the day is.
2
Setting up
A chowki facing east, white cloth on it, the image of Saraswati. Put your books, instruments, pens or tools in front of her.
3
The puja
White sandal, akshat, yellow flowers, incense and lamp. Boondi or kesari bhat as bhog, with ber and sugarcane.
4
Saraswati Vandana
'Ya Kundendu Tushaarahaaradhavalaa', then the aarti.
5
First letters
Sit the child in your lap and have them write for the first time — a finger tracing 'Om' or 'a' in rice or turmeric. It is an abujh muhurta; no time need be looked up.
6
Visarjan
Where an image was installed it is immersed the next day, as is done in Bengal and the east.
What to do
- Start a child's letters today — it is one of three abujh muhurats in the year, and no time need be looked up.
- Put your own books, instrument or tools into the puja; Saraswati is worshipped through whatever you learn by.
- Wear yellow and offer yellow; mustard flower is the right one.
- Marriage, house-warming, a new venture — all can begin today without a muhurta.
- If you install an image, decide the day of immersion in advance.
What not to do
- No foot touches a book, a pen or an instrument today — the strictest rule of this day.
- Do not wear black.
- Do not cut trees and do not harvest today; it is the first day of spring.
- No harsh speech — it is the day of the goddess of speech, and the rule is not taken as symbolic.
- No tamasik food, no meat, no drink.
The aarti
Om Jai Saraswati Mata
ॐ जय सरस्वती माता, मैया जय सरस्वती माता।
सदगुण वैभव शालिनि, त्रिभुवन विख्याता॥
चंद्रवदनि पद्मासिनि, द्युति मंगलकारी।
सोहे शुभ हंस सवारी, अतुल तेजधारी॥
बाएँ कर में वीणा, दाएँ कर माला।
शीश मुकुट मणि सोहे, गल मोतियन माला॥
देवि शरण जो आए, उनका उद्धार किया।
पैठि मंथरा दासी, रावण संहार किया॥
विद्या ज्ञान प्रदायिनि, ज्ञान प्रकाश भरो।
मोह अज्ञान और तम का, जग से नाश करो॥
धूप दीप फल मेवा, माँ स्वीकार करो।
ज्ञानचक्षु दे माता, जग निस्तार करो॥
माँ सरस्वती की आरती, जो कोई नर गावे।
हितकारी सुखकारी, ज्ञान भक्ति पावे॥
The sky has a calendar. So do you.
The same engine reads your own birth moment — every house, every graha, every period with dates.