allahabad gaiety and fervour marked the festival of basant panchami on saturday with devotees taking a holy dip on the banks of sangam youngsters were seen flying kites as strong winds blew across the city marking the occasion which symbolises the onset of basant spring seasonpilgrims had started gathering in the magh mela area since morning to take a holy dip in the ganga the basant panchami snan is among the most important bathing days after mauni amavasya and the crowd informed a local priest rajendra tiwarivasant panchami sometimes referred to as basant panchami or shree panchami is a hindu festival celebrating saraswati the goddess of knowledge music and art it is celebrated every year on the fifth day of the indian month magh januaryfebruary the first day of spring traditionally during this festival children are taught to write their first words brahmins are fed ancestor worship pitrtarpan is performed kamadeva the god of love is worshipped and most educational institutions organise special prayer for saraswati the colour yellow also plays an important role in this festival people usually wear yellow garments saraswati is worshipped dressed in yellow and yellow sweets are consumed within the familiesapart from art and culture goddess saraswati also showers her blessings for the education of childrena religious teacher dr ram naresh tripathi said that pandit madan mohan malviya laid the foundation of kashi hindu vishwa vidyalaya on basant panchami which later on became a renowned academic institution