Goddess Saraswathi

Yaa Kundendu tushaara haaradhavalaa,

Yaa shubhravastraavritha
Yaa veenavara dandamanditakara,

Yaa shwetha padmaasana
Yaa brahmaachyutha shankara prabhutibhir

Devaisadaa Vanditha
Saa Maam Paatu Saraswatee

Bhagavatee Nihshesha jaadyaapahaa

Goddess Saraswathi is the consort of Lord Brahma (Lord of Creation) and is the Goddess of wisdom and learning. Saraswati is the one who gives the essence (sara) of our own self (swa). She is considered as the personification of all knowledge - arts, sciences, crafts and other skills. Thus, with the goddesses Saraswati , Lakshmi and Parvati or Durga , she forms the Tridevi who are consorts of the male trinity of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva, respectively. Saraswati's children are the Vedas, which are the oldest sacred texts of Hinduism. Saraswati is also regarded as Vaagdevi, the goddess of sound and speech.

Legend has it that Bhrahma the creator acquired the power to think and create only through the power of Saraswati and that it was Saraswati that enabled Bhrahma to listen to the naadabhrahmam, the primordial sound which is revered as the source of all creation.Saraswati is also referred to as Sharda, the fountainhead of knowledge who leeds seekers from darkness to light and from ignorance to spiritual upliftment.

Iconography :

She has a beautiful and elegant presence, is pure white in colour, clad in a white saree, seated on a white lotus, She has four hands representing four aspects of human personality in learning , mind, intellect, alertness and ego.

She is shown to hold the following in her hands:

• A book, which is the sacred Vedas, representing the universal, divine, eternal, and true knowledge as well as her perfection of the sciences and the scriptures.
• A mala (rosary) of crystals, representing the power of meditation and spirituality.
• The veena, a musical instrument that represents her perfection of all arts and science.

Saraswati is also associated with anuraaga, the love for and rhythm of music which represents all emotions and feelings expressed in speech or music. It is believed that children born with that name will prove to be very lucky in their studies. A 'white swan' (Sanskrit: hamsa) is often located next to her feet. The swan, symbolizes discrimination between the good and the bad or the eternal and the evanescent. Due to her association with the swan, Goddess Saraswati is also referred to as Hamsa-vahini, which means "she who has a swan as her vehicle". She is usually depicted near a flowing river, which may be related to her early history as a river goddess. The swan and her association with the lotus flower also point to her ancient origin. Sometimes a peacock is shown beside the goddess. The peacock represents arrogance and pride over its beauty, and by having a peacock as her mount, the Goddess teaches Hindus not to be concerned with external appearance and to be wise regarding the eternal truth.

Saraswati as a river :

The Rigvedic hymns dedicated to Saraswati mention her as a mighty river with creative, purifying, and nourishing properties. The best theory regarding the Vedic Saraswati River states that it was formed by the present headwaters of the Yamuna River. The now extinct river Saraswati, once an integral part of Vedic culture is associated with Saraswati the Goddess of knowledge. Legend has it that when Shiva opened his third eye, the flame that emanated threatened to destroy everything in it's path. Only Saraswati the source of wisdom was unperturbed by the potence of the flame, owing to her firm understanding that the flame would only destroy what was impure. She then took the form of a river, carried the flame deep into the sea and transformed it into a fire breathing mare and declared that the creature of destruction would stay underground as long as wisdom was sought after and that it would surface if this search was totally abandoned.

Temples :

Like Brahma, she is not worshipped much in temples. However, every year Saraswathi Pooja (Navarathiri ) is celebrated by people all over India, be it students, workers, craftsmen, businessmen offering their prayers for a successful and fruitful year. Shrines dedicated to Saraswati are commonly seen in many Saivite temples all over south India, located to the right of Parvati's shrine. However, Saraswathi does have a temple in Koothanur in Tanjavur district and there are shrines to Bhrahma and Saraswati at Uttamar Koyil near Tiruchirappalli in Tamilnadu. Major temples for the goddess are located in Basara Town (Andhra Pradesh), Shringeri, Pushkar, Panachikkad, Bhadrakali, Gairidhara and Handigaon in Nepal also have Saraswati temples .

Festivals :

Saraswati Puja is performed on the 5th day of Magha month of Hindu Calendar (also known as Basant Panchami). In several parts of India, generally states to the south, Saraswati Poojas are conducted during Navaratri – a nine day long festival celebrating the power of the feminine aspect of divinity or shakti. On the ninth day of Navaratri (Mahanavami), books and all musical instruments are ceremoniously kept near the gods early at dawn and worshipped with special prayers. No studies or any performance of arts is carried out, as it is considered that the Goddess herself is blessing the books and the instruments. The festival is concluded on the tenth day of Navaratri (Vijaya Dashami) and the goddess is worshipped again before the books and the musical instruments are removed. It is customary to study on this day, which is called Vidyarambham (literally, Commencement of Knowledge). All students are traditionally required to study a part of all that they have learn till that day, and also to start the study of something new on the same day. Gurus (preceptors) are worshipped on this day as embodiments of Saraswati.

Saraswati - Bestower of Knowledge :

Musical instruments, books, speech, knowledge, intellect are regarded as symbols of Saraswati. Saraswati is believed to be the provider of knowledge that dispels ignorance and unhappiness. Saraswati is worshipped by seekers of knowledge especially students, scholars and scientists.

Sources : Wikipedia , http://www.iloveindia.com/spirituality/goddesses/saraswati/index.html