Saraswati Mata
सरस्वती माताసరస్వతీదేవిசரஸ்வதி தேவி
Also known as: Sharada · Vagdevi · Vani · Bharati · Veenapani · Veena Vadini · Hamsavahini · Vidya Devi · Maa Sharde · Kalaimagal
Saraswati Mata is the goddess of learning, speech and music, shown in white, seated on a white lotus and playing the veena. Students pray to her before study and exams, and her main festival is Basant Panchami, with Saraswati Puja also done during Navratri.
- Festivals
- Basant Panchami
Texts for Saraswati Mata
The story
In the Rig Veda, Saraswati is a great river that gives life, and she is also praised as the one who inspires good speech. Over time the river goddess came to be worshipped as the goddess of knowledge and music. The Puranas describe her as the consort of Brahma the Creator, and she is counted with Lakshmi and Parvati as one of the three great goddesses.
She is shown in white, on a white lotus, holding a veena, a book and a rosary, with a swan beside her. Tradition says the swan can separate milk from water, so it stands for viveka, the sense to tell right from wrong.
Her festival is Basant Panchami, the fifth day of the bright half of Magha. Families wear yellow and place books and instruments before her, and many children write their first letters on this day. In South India she is worshipped during Navratri on Saraswati Puja, when books and tools are kept before her and rested for the day. Many students say the prayer 'Ya Kundendu Tushara Hara Dhavala' before they study.