Saraswati Puja 2022

Sarbojonin Hindu Puja. Roma, 5 February 2021

On Saturday 5th February, the prayer – puja – for Saraswati was celebrated.

I admit that of all the deities of the Hindu pantheon Saraswati is my favorite: the deity of knowledge, art, wisdom, and learning.

Last year it was celebrated in difficult conditions, with few faithful, while this time it was a more participatory prayer.

I alternated between the two temples (mondir) of Torpignattara.

Privileging this time the Om Hindu Mondir, since lately, I frequent the other more, also for reasons of amplitude.

Sarbojonin Hindu Puja

Temple: Om Hindu Mondir

 

The main moment of this prayer is the blessing of the children's books and school notebooks.

With the brahmin, the youngest children write the first letters of the alphabet under the blessing of the goddess Saraswat.

 

Temple: Om Hindu Mondir

Furthermore, the faithful, before this, performed the rite of the wooden stick. Another aspect of this puja that I really like: you press strong a little wooden stick to your forehead while praying, then you genuflect on the ground with your forehead pressed to the carpet, invoking the goddess: if, when you get up, the stick remains on the forehead without holding it then means that the blessing of the divinity has been obtained – knowledge has been granted.

Waiting for the next puja.

From Wikipedia:


Sarasvati is the Hindu goddess of knowledge, music, art, wisdom, and learning.

She is a part of the trinity (Tridevi) of Saraswati, Lakshmi, and Parvati. All the three forms help the trinity of Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva to create, maintain, and regenerate the Universe, respectively. The earliest known mention of Saraswati as a goddess is in the Rigveda. She has remained significant as a goddess from the Vedic period through modern times of Hindu traditions.

Some Hindus celebrate the festival of Vasant Panchami (the fifth day of spring, also known as Saraswati Puja and Saraswati Jayanti in so many parts of India) in her honor, and mark the day by helping young children learn how to write the letters of the alphabet on that day. The Goddess is also revered by believers of the Jain religion of west and central India, as well as some Buddhist sects.

The goddess Saraswati is often depicted as a beautiful woman dressed in pure white, often seated on a white lotus, which symbolizes light, knowledge, and truth. She not only embodies knowledge but also the experience of the highest reality. Her iconography is typically in white themes from dress to flowers to swan – the color symbolizing Sattwa Guna or purity, discrimination for true knowledge, insight, and wisdom. In Bihar and Jharkhand, Vasant Panchami is commonly known as Saraswati Puja.

On this day, Goddess Saraswati is worshipped in schools, colleges, educational institutes as well as in institutes associated with music and dance. Cultural programs are also organized in schools and institutes on this day. People especially students worship Goddess Saraswati also in pandals (a tent made up of colorful cloths, decorated with lights and other decorative items). In these states, on the occasion of Saraswati Puja, Goddess Saraswati is worshipped in the form of an idol, made up of soil. On Saraswati Puja, the idol is worshipped by people, and prasad is distributed among the devotees after puja. Prasad mainly consists of boondi (motichoor), pieces of carrot, peas, and Indian plum (ber). On the next day or any day depending on religious conditions, the idol is immersed in a pond (known as Murti Visarjan or Pratima Visarjan) after performing a Havana (immolation), with full joy and fun, playing with abir and gulal. After Pratima Visarjan, members involved in the organization of the puja ceremony eat khichdi together.