Dear Editor,

WHILE many countries enjoy four different seasons, namely, winter, spring, summer and fall, Guyana experiences two rainy and two dry seasons. Most areas are hot and humid, relieved by the cool wind from the Atlantic Ocean and the trees. Some areas also feel chilly and cool, especially in the night. In India, certain parts enjoy and experience the four seasons. A study of this country from where the descendants of Guyanese indentured labourers originated is more than its philosophy, literature, laws, language, people or culture. According to a Professor Bournouf at the College of France, it is a page of the origin of the world that can be attempted to decipher. Last month, Hindus throughout the world, including Guyana, celebrated India’s first cultural and religious holiday, Makar Sankranti. Hindus in Guyana and the rest of the world will again join India in celebrating Vasant Panchami on Tuesday, the 16th of February. Vasant Panchami is, literally, the festival which heralds the arrival of the spring season. Vasant means “spring”, and the event commences every year on the fifth day (Panchami) of the bright fortnight of the Hindu lunar calendar month of Magha (Shukla Paksha), which falls during the Gregorian period of January-February. Puja timing for Vasant Panchami, also called Basant Panchami, is referred to as Muhurat – 6:59 AM to 12:35 PM, the tithi being 3:36am Feb.16th till 5:46 AM on Feb. 17th.

India is universally renowned as the home to a number of festivals, each of which comes with its own traditions, customs and practices, and they vary, contingent on the different states, as, the many geographical locations observe the same occasion in various ways. That is why Hindus in Guyana, Trinidad and Suriname follow a similar trend because our foreparents were a composition of these variants. There is also a lot of history, stories and significance associated with most of the festivals. While summer is hot, winter is cold, and fall is full of magnificent colors, spring brings back life and is the breaking out of nature’s greenery. Spring is a major season in the country for farmers, where crops flourish, fields are sown and flowers bloom after a long winter. The arrival of this season is marked with Vasant Panchami, which is celebrated with full enthusiasm, pomp and joy. Maharaja Ranjit singh, who was given the title of ‘Sher-e-Punjab’ and was a ruler in the early 19th Century, is said to have marked the festivities by wearing yellow and holding fairs. The practice continues to date; girls wear yellow dresses, kites are flown in Punjab and fairs are held.

Whereas Diwali, the Festival of Light is to Mata Lakshmi, the Goddess of Wealth, and, Navaratri is to Mata Durga, the Goddess of Power and Valor, so Vasant Panchami is to Mata Saraswati, the Goddess of Knowledge and the Arts, completing the feminine trinity of three in one and one of three. This occasion is related to the manifestation of Devi Saraswati. From her emergence as knowledge, she assisted Lord Brahma, being the creative force of the Creator (Brahma)/Sustainer (Vishnu)/Destroyer (Shiva) male trilogy principle (Trimurti), in the direction to create the cosmos; the sun, moon and stars which came into being. Devi Saraswati is depicted in a white outfit sitting in lotus posture, symbolizing that she is grounded in absolute truth and has pure knowledge. Her four arms represent, mind, intellect, intelligence and ego and also the four Vedas, the most sacred books of the Hindus. In a visual representation, with two hands, she perfects arts and sciences as she plays the music of love and life on a string instrument called the Veena, another hand holding the Vedas and the other, a crystal mala representing meditation and spirituality. Max Muller observed, ‘In the Rig Veda, we shall have before us more real antiquity than in all the inscriptions of Egypt or Ninevah. The Vedas is the oldest book in existence.”

Vasant Panchami is dedicated to Mata Saraswati, the goddess of knowledge, music, arts, science and technology. She is worshipped to get enlightened with knowledge and to get rid of lethargy, sluggishness and ignorance. This ritual of initiating education to children is known as “Akshar-Abhyasam or Vidya-Arambham/Praasana, which is one of the famous rituals of Vasant Panchami. It is an auspicious day to start any good work, schooling and academics, perform Saraswati puja and seek her blessings. Saraswati Ya Kundendu is the most famous Stuti dedicated to Goddess Saraswati and part of the famous Saraswati Strotam and is recited during the puja. The famous German thinker, Schopenhauer, remarked in the introduction of his book, “The Upanishads,” “In the whole world there is no study so beneficial and so elevating as that of the Upanishads. It has been the solace of my life (and) it will be the solace of my death. Books are to be revered and treated with respect.

Guyanese revere Vasant Panchami with the “planting of Holika.” As is customary in the North of India, 40 days prior to Holika Dahan (the burning of Holika), and a circular hole is dug in the ground and filled with wood and cow dung. A green tree, generally castor oil, is planted and grass is heaped around it. Males usually participate in this aspect and is expected that they make a sacrifice for the next 40 days and nights (by giving up or abstaining from something they like). Coconuts are offered as prayers are chanted, facing the East. As the days prolong, dry branches, logs and other woods and materials are placed to build the site for a huge camp fire. The day after Holika Dahan, Holi or Phagwah is celebrated in a grand style.

The day of Vasant Panchmi is traditionally observed by rising early, offering prayers to Surya and Devi Saraswati, donning yellow and mustard clothes, preparing meals with recipes to include yellow, decorating the homes to welcome the Goddess, visiting temples, offering prayers, distributing sweets, starting an educational project, placing books or musical instruments at the feet of Devi Saraswati for blessings, initiating children with the writing of “Om” to begin their studies, marriages, house warming , naming children and indulging in a day of pious activity. Educational institutions organize special functions and it is a public holiday in India. Jains, Sikhs and Buddhists also worship Devi Saraswati and the significance of Vasant Panchmi as the “birthday” of this Goddess is observed. From the Matsya Purana, the story of the 40 days penance to Lord Shiva by Ratri, the wife of Kamadeva, the God of love, is remembered. In the Ramayana, the story of Lord Rama’s visit to Mata Sabari and eating her offering of half-tasted berries and grapes is told on this day. The marriage of Sikh Guru Gobind Singh Ji is marked with a fair in Bilaspur, India, on this day. The story is related of Kalidasa, whose wife did not think much of him and Devi Saraswati emerging from the river where he attempted to commit suicide. She persuaded him to take a dip instead and he emerged enriched with knowledge. In Indonesia, Vasant Panchmi marks the beginning of the Balinese calendar. This day is also celebrated by Indian Muslim Sufis since the 12th Century as the Dargah of Nizamuddin Aulia in Delhi. This day is among the six major holy bath days at the gathering of Prayag where the rivers Ganga (Ganges) and Yamuna meet the now underground Saraswati river. Devi Saraswati, the Goddess of Knowledge, Music, Art, Education and Nature, represents the free flow of wisdom and consciousness.

William Durant, the author of the 10 volume Story of Civilization, wrote, “India was the motherland of our race, and Sanskrit, the mother of European languages. She was the mother of our philosophy, of our mathematics, of self-government and democracy. Mother India is in many ways the mother of us all.” The above reference indicate that the Vedic culture was a global faith, a world influence. This is given further in the remarks of Ctesias, the Greek writer who states, ‘The Hindus were as numerous as all the other nations put together.” The blessings of Devi Saraswati will eventually propel you to seek knowledge and wisdom.

Happy Vasant Panchami.

Respectfully,
Jai Lall.