Goddess Saraswati is worshiped to invoke the blessings of the deity, who is the Goddess of culture, music art and education. The significance of Saraswati Pooja is that it is a spring festival and it marks the beginning of spring. The yellow color forms an integral part of the festival. Yellow colored flowers are offered to the deity, such as Marigold. The food prepared are also yellow in color, such as kesariya bhaat or sweet saffron rice, kesariya ladoo or halwa or saffron pudding, khichdi or a mixture of yellow pulses with rice and so on.
Not only is this festival celebrated with a lot of zeal and fervor in the states of Orissa, Bihar and West Bengal, but in Punjab the Sikh community celebrates this festival with a lot of pomp in Gurdwara and the musicians perform basant raga. In many parts of Punjab, fairs are held on this day. Guru Gobind Singh was married on this day and hence it is celebrated by the Sikh community. This day is celebrated by flying kite in Firozpur.
The significance of Saraswati Pooja is that, Saraswati, being the Goddess of learning, on the day of Saraswati Pooja young children are made to write alphabets. This is a common practice in West Bengal and it is known as “Hathe khori”. It is a popular belief that if a young child writes in front of the Goddess, he would be blessed by the deity and will do very well in his education in future.
