Basant Panchami, also known as Saraswati Puja is being celebrated today. Parts of India bid have goodbye to the biting cold and welcomed the beautiful flowers of spring. Devotees in large numbers thronged the river Ganga in Varanasi for the holy dip ritual. Devotees wear yellow clothes and worship Maa Saraswati, the Goddess of wisdom and knowledge on this day. In Haridwar too, crowds flocked to the Har Ki Pauri Ghat at the start of the day for the holy dip.