President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi greeted the nation on the occasion of Basant Panchami on Sunday.
While lakhs of devotees took a dip in Sangam on the third and last ‘shahi snan’ (royal bath) on the occasion, the President and the PM took to micro-blogging site Twitter to greet the people over the festival celebrating the spring season.
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“Greetings to fellow citizens on Basant Panchami, Sri Panchami, and Saraswati Puja. May this festive occasion, which heralds’ spring and celebrates learning, spur us to expand the frontiers of education and knowledge in our families, our society and our country,” President Kovind said.
Prime Minister Modi in his greetings wished for blessings of knowledge and goodwill for all.
“Many greetings to citizens on the festival which symbolises new energy, new ambition and new vigor- Basant Panchami. I wish that Goddess of learning mother Saraswati will provide knowledge and goodwill to all,” he tweeted in Hindi.
Basant Panchami is also celebrated as Saraswati Puja in some parts of the country – especially West Bengal.
Goddess Saraswati is the deity of goddess of knowledge, arts and music in Hindu mythology. It is also popular in western and central states of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh.
Basant Panchami is also celebrated in Punjab where people dressed up in traditional yellow colour and also fly kites.
On the other hand, at Prayagraj, lakhs of devotees took a holy dip at Kumbh Mela on the occasion, including Sadhus from 13 akharas.
A large number of devotees thronged the Ghats here at the confluence of rivers Ganga, Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati to take a dip in the holy waters on this religiously significant occasion.
