Patna, Jan 23 (PTI) Students organised Saraswati Puja at educational institutions across Bihar's Patna on Friday on the occasion of Basant Panchami, marking the onset of the spring season.

Dressed in bright colours, students in various schools and colleges offered prayers before idols of the goddess, sought blessings for knowledge and wisdom, and distributed prasad.

The festival is dedicated to Goddess Saraswati, revered as the deity of knowledge and learning, and is widely celebrated across the northern region.

"Saraswati Puja is celebrated with great devotion in gurukul ashrams, Ved Vidyalayas and other schools. There is a belief that children who perform the puja on this day receive the blessings and grace of the goddess," said Akshay Tiwari, an official at Sant Pashupatinath Adarsh Sansthan.

Students, with sandalwood marks on their foreheads, chanted mantras, blew conches, offered books before the idol and participated in the rituals.

"We celebrate Saraswati Puja with great joy in our Ved Vidyalaya and pray to the goddess to bless us with knowledge," said Divyanshu Shukla, a student of the institution.

Anand Kumar Pandey, a student of another school, said the puja is observed every year with great enthusiasm, and is marked by cultural programmes and other events.

(PTI)