Saraswati Puja

Vasant Panchami, the fifth day of spring is the most auspicious day in the lives of students and all those who revere knowledge, for the day is celebrated here in the east along with other parts of India as Saraswati Puja.

Saraswati is the Goddess of knowledge, music, art, wisdom and learning – a part of the holy trinity of Saraswati, Lakshmi and Parvati who help Brahma, Vishnu and Maheshwar to create, maintain and regenerate the universe respectively.

The Bhawanipur Education Society College (BESC) conducts the Saraswati puja with full reverence and solemnity, not only as an educational institution paying obsience to its ruling deity but also to seek her blessings in its continuous quest for enlightenment, for knowledge and for seeking her blessings for all that is good in the world.

Prof Dilip Shah, the Dean of Student Affairs of the BESC led the students in prayer, as they refocussed and mage the pursuit of knowledge the sole focus of their lives. Once the formal puja was done with, Prof Shah explained to the students the different names with which the Goddess is invoked, explaining their individual significance.

The Goddess is called Brahmani he said, as she represents the power of Brahma. She is Brahmi the Goddess of sciences, Bharadi the Goddess of history, Vani and Vachi which refer to the flow of music, song, melodious speech and eloquent speaking. Saraswati, he said, is known as Varnesvari the Goddess of letters and also Kavijihvagravasini – one who dwells on the tongue of poets. The Goddess is also known as Vidyadatri: one who provides knowledge, Veenavadini one who plays the veena, Pustakdharini – Goddess who carries books, Veenapani – Goddess who carries veena in her hands, Hansavahini – Goddess who sits on a swan and Vagdevi, Goddess of speech, he said, urging students to surrender themselves to the Goddess and pray to her in all her incarnations.

The programme started with the rendition of Saraswati Vandana by the Crescendo – the music collective of the BESC which was followed by a dance recital by the students.

Saraswati Puja is also marked by the sharing of the “Bhog” – prasadam that is offered to the Goddess and then partaken of as a symbol of her blessings. Extremely delicious, the ritual holds a special place in the lives of students and this year too was no exception, with the assembled students gorging themselves.

As is de rigueur in the BESC, the puja was marked by a number of events that were related to and sought to further highlight the solemnity of the occasion. As a matter of fact, BESC makes a conscious effort to use such occasions to help the students establish connects with the traditional legacies of the land, to embrace and highlight their rich and varied cultures.

A Rangoli competition was held as a part of the decorations. It was won by Manashi Srivastava, followed by Ayush Agarwal. The Conch blowing competition was won by Shomnath Ghosh, followed by Akash Banerjee. The award for the best decoration of the Arti thali went to Trisha Kedia with Darshana Lohia emerging as the first runner up.

The best dressed (naturally in ethnic wear) among the students were Vivek Singh and Sneha Malhotra while among the teachers, Dr Divyesh Shah, Head of the Morning Commerce Section of the College took the title of the Best Dressed faculty, with Prof Vashundhara Mishra being adjudged as the best dressed female.

(This report has been filed by Nikita Mittal of the Expressions collective of the BESC)