Maa Saraswati

Who Maa Saraswati is

Saraswati is the goddess of knowledge, learning, speech, music and the arts. Consort of Brahma the creator, she stands for the wisdom that gives creation meaning; tradition holds that creation without knowledge would be incomplete. With Lakshmi and Parvati she makes up the Tridevi, the three great goddesses. She is called Sharada, Vagdevi (goddess of speech), Vani, Bharati and Vidyadayini, the giver of learning.

From river to goddess

In the Rigveda, Saraswati is first a great river, "the best of mothers, the best of rivers, the best of goddesses", on whose banks Vedic ritual flourished. Over time the river goddess became identified with vak, sacred speech, and then with all learning. Tradition holds that the river still flows unseen, joining the Ganga and Yamuna at the Triveni Sangam in Prayagraj.

Iconography

She is shown in white, which stands for purity and the clarity of true knowledge, seated on a white lotus or with a swan (hamsa). The swan, said to be able to separate milk from water, stands for discernment: the ability to tell truth from falsehood. In some images a peacock is beside her. She holds:

• a veena, for music and the arts;
• a book, for the Vedas and all learning;
• a mala, for meditation and spiritual discipline;
• and sometimes a pot of water, for the purifying power of knowledge.

Why she is invoked before learning

Just as Ganesha is invoked to remove obstacles before any task, Saraswati is invoked before any study, exam, performance or creative work. Students traditionally touch their books and pens to her image or seek her blessing before an exam, and musicians honour her before a concert. Stepping on a book, or putting it where feet go, is traditionally avoided because books are her form. Children begin their education with Vidyarambham (Akshar Abhyasam in the South): their first letters are written in rice or sand before her image.

How she is worshipped

Offerings to her are white or yellow: white or yellow flowers, white sweets, kheer, and fruit. Books, pens and musical instruments are placed before her to be blessed. The Saraswati Chalisa and the Saraswati Vandana, the hymn that begins "Ya Kundendu Tushara Haara Dhavala", are recited in homes and school assemblies across India. Because the Gayatri Mantra is a prayer for an illumined mind, many students chant it in the morning as part of their practice.

Festivals and temples

Vasant Panchami, on the fifth day of the bright fortnight of Magh, is her great festival and marks the arrival of spring. People wear yellow, offer yellow sweets, and it is considered the best day to begin a child's education. In Bengal it is celebrated as Saraswati Puja in homes, schools and colleges. In South India she is worshipped on the ninth day of Navratri, when books and tools are rested before her (Ayudha Puja), and children begin their learning on Vijayadashami. Her best-known temples are the Gnana Saraswati temple at Basar in Telangana, the Sharadamba temple at Sringeri in Karnataka, and the Koothanur Saraswati temple in Tamil Nadu.