Wonder how Saraswati fits in to the Internet!
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From: Buljit Buragohain <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: Buljit Buragohain <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, [email protected],[email protected], [EMAIL PROTECTED],[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: [Assam] Today is Saraswati Puja (23.01.2007)
Date: Tue, 23 Jan 2007 01:22:27 +0000 (GMT)
Saraswati, the Hindu Goddess of Wisdom and Knowledge, is worshipped on Vasant Panchami day every year.Saraswati Puja, the ritual worship of the goddess Saraswati, is done on Vasant Panchami day every year. The festival is celebrated to pay obeisance to Saraswati, the goddess of knowledge and learning. Hindus, celebratethis festival with great enthusiasm and Hindu temples and households are full of activity on this day.
The festival is celebrated every year on the fifth day of the bright fortnight of the Magha month of the Indian calendar, on the day called 'Vasant Panchami'. It is believed that on this day, goddess Saraswati was born.
Saraswati is the consort of Lord Brahma and is the Goddess of Wisdom and Knowledge. She is the personification of knowledge - arts, science, crafts. She represents Shakti, creativity and inspiration and presents herself when the weather is pleasant and Nature is in its full grandeur. It is a season of inspiration and passion.
Celebrations: The most significant aspect of this day is that Hindu children are taught reading and writing their first words on this day - as it is considered an auspicious day to begin a child's education. Educational institutions organize special prayers for Saraswati on this day. The great Indian guru Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya laid the foundations of the world-class academic institution, Kashi Hindu Vishwavidyalaya on Vasant Panchami.
Saintly people and people inclined towards spiritual progress attach great importance to the worship of goddess Saraswati. As a practice, only educated people and men of principle worship goddess Saraswati for spiritual enlightenment. In their opinion, there can be no comparison between the king and the learned or the spiritually advanced. They believe that the king is honoured within his kingdom, whereas the learned are respected or worshipped throughout the world.
Hinduism has taken into account special significance of the seasons and interwoven them with religious festivals. During Vasant Panchami, seasons undergo change and the coming of springtime is heralded. After the chilly winter, trees display new shoots and new life is evident in the woods and fields. Nature decorates the mango trees with new blossoms, and the crops in the fields enliven with the evidence of new life.
Surprisingly, Vasant Panchami is the second most important festival in the Pakistani city of Lahore. Despite being a Hindu festival, it is still celebrated in Lahore with the same enthusiasm that was evident in the pre-partition times.
Rituals: There are various rituals that are followed in the worshipping of goddess Saraswati. The ones common to all those worshipping Saraswati are that the idol of the goddess is clothed in white, the other predominant colour in the celebrations is yellow, to indicate the onset of spring and the blossoming of mustard flowers.
Families dressed in bright yellow gather together before the idol of Saraswati and pray for the blessing of knowledge. Flowers and wild berries are offered to the goddess and students place their books before the deity and do not do any reading or writing that day. An elaborate puja, with sandalwood, ghee, joss sticks, and incense is done to the sound of shlokas, conch shells, and drums. On this day, people eat vegetarian food and initiate children into the world of the written word. Traditionally, priests make children write the word 'Om'.
A ritual not connected to the worship but equally essential to the celebration is that of flying kites on this day. The sky looks like and interesting mix of colorful waves, as young and old take to this age-old sport.
People also perform pitri-tarpan (homage to the souls of one's ancestors) on this day and many even worship Kamadeva, the god of love on Vasant Panchami.
Legends: Saraswati is the Hindu goddess of learning and speech (Vak). She represents the union of power and intelligence from which organized creation arises. Saraswati possesses all the learnings of the Vedas, scriptures, dances, musical power and poetry. She revealed language and writing to man. Her origin is traced to the lost Vedic river Saraswati. This is the source of her profound connection to fluidity in every aspect. She embodies wisdom, fortune, intelligence, nourishment, brilliance, contentment, splendor and devotion.
Saraswati, the goddess of wisdom, art and music is the daughter of lord Shiva and goddess Durga. It is believed that goddess Saraswati endows human beings with the powers of speech, wisdom and learning. She has four hands representing four aspects of human personality in learning: mind, intellect, alertness and ego. She has sacred scriptures in one hand and a lotus - the symbol of true knowledge - in the second. With her other two hands she plays the music of love and life on a string instrument called the veena . She is dressed in white - the symbol of purity - and rides on a white swan - symbolising Sattwa Guna or purity and discrimination.
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