| Goddess Saraswathi is 
        the consort of Lord Brahma (Lord of Creation) and is the Goddess of 
        wisdom and learning. She is considered as the personification of all 
        knowledge - arts, sciences, crafts and all skills.   She is seen as a 
        beautiful and elegant presence, pure white in colour, clad in a white 
        sari, seated on a white lotus, representing purity and brilliance. She 
        is depicted with four hands. In one hand she holds a book and in the 
        other a rosary. With her other two hands, she is seen playing the veena. 
        Her vahana is the swan and sometimes a peacock is shown accompanying 
        her.    The swan is known for 
        its exceptional characteristic of being capable of seperating out water 
        from milk, indicating that we should possess discrimination to segregate 
        the bad from the good.    Like Brahma, she is 
        not worshipped much in temples. However, every year the Saraswathi Pooja 
        (Navarathiri) is celebrated by all - schools, students, workers, 
        craftsmen, businessmen offering their prayers for a successful and 
        fruitful coming year. |