On one morning of Navaratri, school bags in many Telugu homes are opened and emptied with unusual care. Textbooks, notebooks, pens, a child's slate, perhaps a veena or a harmonium, are carried to the puja room and arranged before a picture of Goddess Saraswati. At Basara, families queue from before dawn. On Indrakeeladri at Vijayawada, Sri Kanaka Durga appears in the white of Saraswati. The day is Moola nakshatram, and for students, teachers and artists it is the most awaited day of the festival.
Moola is one of the twenty-seven nakshatrams of the lunar calendar. During Sharad Navaratri, the day on which the Moon is in Moola is set apart for Saraswati, and tradition regards Moola as her janma nakshatram, her birth star. A widely followed way of understanding the nine nights is as three groups of three: the first nights to Durga, who removes obstacles; the middle nights to Lakshmi, who brings prosperity; and the last nights to Saraswati, who grants knowledge. Moola usually falls in that final part of the festival. Customs vary, and not every family follows this scheme, but in the Telugu states the Moola day is almost everywhere honoured as Saraswati's day.
There is a fitting symmetry here. Saraswati's other great festival, Vasantha Panchami in the month of Magha, celebrates her appearance in spring; you can read about it on our Sri Panchami page. At Navaratri, she is worshipped as part of the Divine Mother, as one of the three great powers whose stories are told in the Devi Mahatmya.
During Sharad Navaratri, Moola nakshatram falls in the bright fortnight of Ashwayuja, a few days before Vijayadashami – usually around Ashwayuja Shukla Saptami. A nakshatram does not begin at sunrise like a calendar day, and in some years it starts on the previous evening; Telugu panchangams fix the day of observance by the nakshatram that prevails at sunrise. For puja timings, please follow your local Telugu panchangam or your temple's announcement. Muhurthams published by websites are calculated for particular cities and can differ by several hours.
The home worship of Saraswati on Moola is simple and joyful, and children can take part in every step. One common way of doing it:
What happens to the books afterwards varies. In many South Indian homes they are left before the Goddess for the remaining days of the festival and taken up again with fresh reverence on Vijayadashami, a day considered especially auspicious for beginning learning. In other homes they are returned the same evening. Follow your family's custom.
सरस्वति नमस्तुभ्यं वरदे कामरूपिणि ।
विद्यारम्भं करिष्यामि सिद्धिर्भवतु मे सदा ॥సరస్వతి నమస్తుభ్యం వరదే కామరూపిణి ।
విద్యారంభం కరిష్యామి సిద్ధిర్భవతు మే సదా ॥sarasvati namastubhyaṁ varade kāmarūpiṇi | vidyārambhaṁ kariṣyāmi siddhirbhavatu me sadā ||
"Salutations to you, Saraswati, giver of boons, who takes whatever form you wish. I am beginning my studies; may I always succeed."
— Traditional prayer to Saraswati
Its meaning and recitation are explained on our Saraswati Vidyarambha Mantra page. Families who keep a longer practice also use the Saraswati Moola Mantra and the Saraswati Gayatri Mantra.
For many families Moola nakshatram is the chosen day for a child's Aksharabhyasam – the ceremony at which a young child, usually between about two and five years old, writes the first letters under the guidance of a priest or an elder. It can be done at home, and many families choose a temple of the Goddess of learning:
Whichever place you choose, remember that the heart of the ceremony is the child's first encounter with letters in an atmosphere of reverence. A quiet Aksharabhyasam at home, guided by a grandparent, is just as complete.
In parts of western India, Saraswati is worshipped over several days that follow the nakshatrams: she is invoked on Moola, worshipped on Purvashadha, offered the concluding worship on Uttarashadha and bid farewell on Shravana. In Kerala, Vijayadashami is the great day of Vidyarambham, when children are initiated into letters. In Bengal, Saraswati's principal worship falls on Vasant Panchami rather than in Navaratri. The common thread everywhere is the same: knowledge is treated as sacred, and its tools are offered to the Goddess before they are used again.
Saraswati puja asks something unusual of a household: to stop using its everyday things for a while – to lay down the pen, close the book and set aside the instrument. On Moola nakshatram, the tools of learning are honoured as gifts of the Goddess, so that they can be taken up again with a little more humility. For a child, that lesson may last longer than anything the books contain. To prepare for the rest of the festival, see our guide to Navaratri kalasha sthapana at home and our Dasara / Devi Navaratri page.