Sarasvati,Hindu goddess of learning and the arts, especially music. First appearing as the personification of the sacred riverSarasvati and also identified withVac, the goddess of speech, she is later named theconsort, daughter, or granddaughter of the godBrahma. She is regarded as the patroness of art, music, and letters and as the inventor of theSanskrit language. She is usually represented as riding on a goose of pure white that is able to undertake long flights and as holding avina (any of several stringed instruments ofIndia, including the lute) and a manuscript or book. In modern times her mount has frequently been represented as aswan. Sarasvati is worshipped at the advent of spring (January–February), when her image is taken out in jubilant procession, but she is alsoinvoked perennially and at examination times by students and by artists and performers of all kinds. Sarasvati is also popular inJain andBuddhist mythology.

The river Sarasvati is revered above all others in theVedas (a collection of poems and hymns) and is by far the one most frequently mentioned. Because it corresponds to none of the major rivers of present-daySouth Asia, it has for centuries been regarded as subtle or mythic, converging unseen with the Ganges and Jamuna rivers when they flow together at Prayag (Allahabad). The millions of pilgrims who participate in the great religious festivalKumbh Mela every 12 years at this site are thus said to bathe in thetri-veni (“triple confluence”), as do all pilgrims to Prayag, which is therefore sometimes called “king oftirthas (sacred places).”

Britannica Quiz

Hindu Religion and Myth Quiz

A major debate at the beginning of the 21st century focused on whether the Vedic Sarasvati corresponds to a major dry riverbed forming part of theIndus complex and containing many unexcavated archaeological sites. If so, this forgotten Sarasvati might provide a major link between Vedic and Indus valleycultures.