Significance
Saraswati Puja honours the goddess of knowledge, wisdom, music and the arts. Celebrated with special fervour in Bengal, Bihar and the East, it coincides with Basant Panchami and the arrival of spring.
Students, teachers, musicians and artists especially seek her blessings for learning and creativity.
Rituals
Idols of Saraswati, dressed in white or yellow, are installed and worshipped with flowers, fruit and the season's first blooms. Books and instruments are placed at her feet, and young children are often initiated into writing (hatekhori). Anjali is offered collectively.
How the date is fixed
It falls on Magha Shukla Panchami — the same day as Basant Panchami. The muhurat above is the auspicious span of the Panchami tithi for your location.