Due to the closure of educational institutions, the puja was only arranged at Barisal Government Girls’ School and Government Brojo Mohun College hostel
Saraswati Puja, one of the main religious festivals of the Hindu community, was celebrated yesterday in Barisal amid much enthusiasm, festivity and religious fervour.
The Puja is celebrated every year on ‘Vasant Panchami’, the birthday of Goddess Saraswati and the fifth day of the bright fortnight of the month of Magh.
Hindu devotees, especially students and youths, usually celebrate Saraswati Puja in different educational institutions, temples and homes by setting up colorful mandaps and placing the idol of the goddess with different types of sweetmeats, fruits and other items and handicraft.
As the educational institutions are closed due to the corona pandemic this year, the puja was not arranged at the institutions except Barisal Government Girls’ School and the hostel of Government Brojo Mohun College.
The worshippers, mostly students and their guardians, attended the ceremony at the Puja Mandap, placing books and educational items at the foot of the idol of Saraswati to get her blessings in educational life.
Religious rituals, special prayers, aroti, discussions, and cultural functions are also held on this occasion. Prices of and demand for sweetmeats, sweet curds and fruits, and especially sugarcane, are also increased on this occasion.
Saraswati has roots in the lost Vedic River Saraswati, one of the major water causeways in northwest India navigable in the third and fourth millennium BC and the source of her profound connection to fluidity in any aspect.
