Saraswati, consort of Brahma, is the goddess of
knowledge, wisdom, arts, music, speech and poetry. She is slender, young
and beautiful, dressed like a queen, with a crown and jewelry on all her
limbs. She rides a goose with pure white feathers. In one hand she holds a
blue water lily, which represents beauty, purity and the flowering of
knowledge. In the other is a lontar palm leaf book, which represents
literature, wisdom and learning. She holds a loop of religious beads as a
sign of endless religious devotion. In her fourth hand is a rebab, a vertical
bowed lute with two strings. Her day is the last of the Balinese 210 day
calendar, when offerings are made to books, and it's a school holiday.
Ironically it's a day when reading is forbidden. In Ancient India bathing
in the Saraswati River bought renewal, freedom, enlightenment, healing,
purity and fertility.
DEITIES
Krishna
