Different hues of Vasant Panchami festival were observed in the holy city on Friday. If the children and youngsters were seen busying in flying kites, scholars busied themselves in Saraswati puja and the housewives spent time churning out new recipes with necessary dish 'sweet rice' to mark the festival.
The festival also was celebrated by commemorating two giant literary figures of the holy city - one a great Indian seer and the other renowned grammarian. 'Bodh Diwas' (Day of Illumination) of Acharya Sri Ram Sharma and birth anniversary of Kishori Das Bajpai were celebrated with enthusiasm and devotion.
Nearly six lakh pilgrims took the holy dip on Vasant Panchami snan till the end of the day which marked the third major holy bath of the festival, claimed the Ardh Kumbh mela officials. lens men had tough time shooting good pictures since the pilgrims were scattered and they kept coming in smaller groups throughout the day. Traffic movement was normal as any other regular day and no diversion was needed, said IG Ardh Kumbh Mela G S Martolia.
Besides, 20 couples tied the nuptial knots on the day. A stamp to be released on the scholar Kishori Das Bajpai called 'Saraswati putra', was also proposed by the OSD to CM, Purushottam Sharma at Chownk Bazar in Kankhal to mark his birth anniversary.
The three- day Basant Utsav in Shantikunj ended with nearly 25,000 people gathering in the premises taking pledge for different social works. Head of Gayatri Parivar Dr Pranav Pandya announced the year as "Youth 2016". A procession was taken out by the volunteers. It traversed from Saptrishi to Geeta Kutir to Haripur Kalan and back to Shantikunj carrying messages of universal brotherhood.
Kishori Das Bajpai's birth anniversary was celebrated by the Press Club of Haridwar. The literary figures of Haridwar paid their tributes to the litterateur.
Paying his tributes at Kankhal Chowk bazaar, OSD to CM Purushottam Sharma said, "We shall put a proposal to the Centre for issuing a postage stamp on the litterateur Bajpai. This would be a befitting tribute to him," he said.
Notably, Kishori Das Bajpai is lauded as having given a new form to the Hindi language grammar. For his outstanding contribution to the mother-tongue, Bajpai is called "Adhunik Hindi ke Panini".
"Just as ancient Sanskrit grammarian Panini's contribution to Hindi language can hardly be forgotten , Bajpai's contribution to the science of Hindi grammar, its 'shabda shastra' (scientific theory of phonetics, phonology) is exemplary. Majority of his works were composed in Kankhal," said litterateur Vishnu Dutt Rakesh.