Guwahati: The dwindling Hindu population of Bangladesh celebrated Saraswati Puja peacefully to worship the deity of wisdom, knowledge, and arts on 3 February 2025 across the trouble-torn South Asian nation. As Saraswati Puja is a major religious festival of the Hindu community in the neighbouring country, the devotees celebrate the occasion every year amid enthusiasm, festivity and religious fervour seeking blessings to enhance their creative endeavours in their respective fields. All Hindu temples along with universities, colleges, schools and other educational institutions across Bangladesh organized the festival with traditional gaiety.
Dhaka University premises attracted a large number of devotees with 74 Puja Mandaps by the students, teachers and employees belonging to various departments. All-female dormitories on the DU campus also worshipped the graceful deity of knowledge and wisdom. Two other advisers in the interim government of Bangladesh visited the festival in DU premises, where they expressed hope for a religiously harmonious and discrimination-free Bangladesh. Both Nahid Islam and Asif Mahmud Shojib Bhuiyan reiterated the pledge to build a discrimination-free, prosperous, and religiously harmonious Bangladesh.
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Jagannath University campus in south Dhaka, where over 30 Puja Mandaps were erected by the devotees, witnessed a woman preacher performing the Saraswati Puja rituals. Samadrita Bhoumik, a student of the English department led the rituals including Bani Archana, Arati and Pushpanjali for the participants. She, in fact, had taken the initiative for the second time to break the traditional belief that only male Brahmins can perform Puja rituals, whereas there is no such scripture.
Another adviser to the caretaker government in Dhaka, Dr Bidhan Ranjan Roy also attended the Bani Archana ritual at Ramna Kali Mandir in the capital city, where he commented that Saraswati Puja plays a crucial role in fostering a knowledge-based society as it upholds the value of wisdom and humanity. Dhakeshwari Mandir, Siddheswari Mandir, Ramakrishna Mission, Maa Anandamayi Ashram, Stamford University, Dhaka College, Eden Girls’ College, and Tejgaon College with many other institutions in north and south Bangladesh also celebrated the festival.
Saraswati Puja remains an integral part of Basanta Panchami, which falls on the 5th day of the bright fortnight (Shukla Paksha) in the month of Magh under the Hindu lunar calendar. The festival also marks the transition from winter to spring season and it’s believed that Devi Saraswati was born on the sacred day to bless the human race with her eternal spirit of learning and intellectual pursuits. Besides the Hindu majority nations Bharat and Nepal, a very similar celebration is observed in Japan also, where Goddess Benzaiten is worshipped as the deity of wisdom, music, and learning. Some traditions in ancient Greece and present-day China also reflect similar fortitudes.
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The festival is widely regarded in eastern India, precisely in West Bengal, Assam and Tripura, where the students, academicians, scholars, writers, journalists, lawyers, painters, musicians and other professionals worship the deity adoring a Veena (musical instrument), a manuscript (symbolizing knowledge), a garland (rosary) on hands and also accompanied by a divine swan symbolizing the purity and serenity. Also described as Vagdevi (Goddess of Speech), the deity finds a place in Rig Veda, one of the four sacred ancient Indian collections of Vedic Sanskrit hymns, where Saraswati is primarily described as a mighty river as well as a goddess of truth, wisdom and eloquence.
However unpleasant news came from Kolkata as the city-based Jogesh Chandra Chaudhuri Law College, where Saraswati Puja organizers needed police surveillance as some ‘outsiders’ threatened the girl-students with rape for organizing the festival. Following a petition filed by some students, the Calcutta High Court directed the city police to engage a top-ranked official to monitor the security scenario during the festival so that the students celebrate the festival without any hindrance.
Earlier, Bangladesh President Mohammed Shahabuddin and the interim government chief Professor Muhammad Yunus greeted members of the Hindu community on the auspicious occasion with separate messages. President Shahabuddin emphasized the nation’s rich legacy of communal harmony saying that Bangladesh stands for mutual coexistence and respect. From ancient times, the people of this land have practised their respective religions and traditions in harmony. To preserve this glorious heritage, every citizen must play their part, added the President urging everyone to use the knowledge not just for personal growth but the betterment and service to humanity.
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Prof Yunus in a message termed Bangladesh as an abode of communal harmony, where the people of all religions, caste and creeds live together for thousands of years. Reflecting on the historic student-led uprising in July and August 2024, which ushered in the interim government, the Nobel peace laureate highlighted the importance of inclusivity and equal rights. The unprecedented rebellion generated by the students, workers and common Bangladeshi nationals even compelled Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to flee from Dhaka and take temporary shelter in India, which flared up attacks on Hindus and other religious minorities in the Muslim-majority nation. Prof Yunus stated that his regime has been working tirelessly to improve the fate of all Bangladeshi nationals irrespective of race, religion, and caste ensuring equal rights to them.
(Nava Thakuria is a senior Indian journalist who contributes to various media outlets including print and digital platforms of India and across the world.)
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