Prez, PM greet nation on Basant Panchami

New Delhi: On the occasion of Basant Panchami, the festival celebrating the spring season, President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday extended their greetings to people of the country. Both leaders took to micro-blogging site Twitter to wish the nation on the joyous occasion.

Prime Minister Modi in his greetings wished for blessings of knowledge and goodwill for all.

The day is also dedicated to the goddess of knowledge, arts and music, Saraswati, who is worshipped on this day.

Saraswati Puja is popular in West Bengal, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. It is believed that if the goddess is worshipped she will bestow gifts of learning on her devotees. In Punjab, people celebrate the festival with gusto dressed up in yellow and also fly kites.

The festival of Basant Panchami also marks the third 'Shahi Snan' (holy dip) of various akharas at the ongoing Kumbh Mela at Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh.

Meanwhile, Basant Panchami is being celebrated across the nation today with religious fervor and traditional gaiety.

On this day, many people revere Goddess Saraswati and seek her blessings for prosperity in their wisdom and knowledge.

The festivities have found place on social networking sites too with people exchanging greetings on the whatsapp, twitter and facebook among other sites.