Saraswati
Saraswati, the goddess of learning, speech, music and the arts. Students, musicians and artisans place their books, instruments and tools before her, and many children are given their first letters on this day.
What the puja consists of
- Bathe and wear yellow — the colour of mustard fields and of the season turning.
- Set Saraswati's image on a clean cloth with books, pens or an instrument placed at her feet.
- Offer yellow flowers, sweets and the season's first fruits.
- Recite the Saraswati Vandana, then leave the books unopened for the day as a mark of respect.
- Vidyarambham — a child's first letters — is written in a tray of rice or on a slate.
Core chants
Named, not printed — each links to a recording where the catalogue has one.
- Stotra
Saraswati Vandana (Ya Kundendu Tushara Hara)या कुन्देन्दुतुषारहारधवला
The central invocation of the day, describing the goddess seated in white.
Not in the catalogue yet — ask at your local temple or gurdwara, or learn it from a teacher in your tradition.
- Mantra
Saraswati Gayatri
A short repeated invocation, often chanted before study.
Not in the catalogue yet — ask at your local temple or gurdwara, or learn it from a teacher in your tradition.
- Mantra
Om Aim Saraswatyai Namahॐ ऐं सरस्वत्यै नमः
The seed mantra used for japa through the day.
Not in the catalogue yet — ask at your local temple or gurdwara, or learn it from a teacher in your tradition.
It differs where you are. Bengal, Odisha, Bihar and Assam keep it as a full public Saraswati Puja with community pandals; Punjab flies kites for Basant; in Kerala and Karnataka the same first-letters ceremony belongs to Vijayadashami instead.
This page is editorial context, not religious instruction. Where your family, region or lineage does it differently, that is the version to follow — ask an elder or a teacher in your tradition rather than a website.