Basant Panchami is an annual celebration to welcome the spring season. Celebrated in Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Gujarat, Punjab, Odisha, and other parts of India with utmost joy. A prominent aspect of the celebration is also Saraswati Puja, which is most popular in West Bengal and neighbouring states.
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According to some legends, Goddess Saraswati appeared on Basant Panchami, which is why many households worship her on this day. Other mythical tales point out that devotees pray to the Goddess of knowledge to achieve wisdom and prosper in life. However, have you wondered why she is offered yellow food when she is always shown wearing white clothes?
Slurrp spoke to Prof. Prabhat Kumar, mythologist and assistant professor of the Sanskrit department at D.A.V PG College, Bulandshahr, and Samrat Banerjee, chef and partner at AVB Hospitality, to understand how yellow colour and foods became associated with Goddess Saraswati.
Importance Of Yellow Colour During Basant Panchami
According to Prof. Prabhat Kumar, each colour has significance in Hindu mythology. The colour associated with Basanat Ritu (spring season) is Basanti (light yellow colour), therefore, yellow became the colour of the celebration of Basant Panchami. He added that the sun is considered the source of all colours among which yellow is considered a prominent one. It is also associated with the element of Earth, one among five elements (Earth, sky, water, air, and space) that make up the human body.
Chef Samrat Banerjee describes yellow as the mood of nature and the spring season. After cold, dark, and foggy days and nights, bright yellow sun rays surround the Earth. References to the texts of the Gupta period to Buddhist scriptures, he said that from Basanta Panchami to Holi, people celebrate the bloom in nature. Hence, yellow came to be associated with the personified version of that merry spirit. “Spring is like a new start,” he added.
How Yellow Colour And Foods Got Associated With Goddess Saraswati?
Samrat Banerjee, who is a mythology enthusiast, said that Bansant Panchami is also celebrated as the day of Vidyarambh (vidya refers to knowledge and arambh means beginning), the beginning of education.
Chef Banerjee and Professor Kumar referred to an old tradition among Hindus when a veneration is organised for kids when they start learning. One of the rituals includes helping the child hold a piece of chalk and write something with it on a writing slate. During this puja, they seek blessing from Goddess Saraswati to be blessed with wisdom and knowledge.
Prabhat Kumar says that the yellow colour signifies prosperity, and Samrat Banerjee says that it also signifies knowledge. Both of these traits are associated with Goddess Saraswati, even though she is often described as wearing white clothes, sitting on a white lotus, and surrounded by white swans.
Referring to the time when this transition period used to be the worst time because people used to fall ill a lot, Samrat Banerjee stressed that people used turmeric not only to prepare food but also in traditional medicine for skin, hair, and wound healing. Since turmeric is yellow, the colour is also associated with celebrations and festivities. “Hence, yellow colour and turmeric trickled down into the foods that are prepared for Basant Panchami and Saraswati Puja celebration,” added the chef.
This is why you will find turmeric as the star ingredient to prepare Basanti pulao (sweet rice), bhaji, khichdi, and whatnot. Samrat Banerjee also shared that raw turmeric is also offered to Goddess Saraswati, and it is later consumed by devotees after the puja. Apart from this, devotees also offer boondi ladoos, yellow fruits, kesari kheer, sheera, and rajbhog are also offered to the Goddess.