Goddess Saraswati is the beloved Hindu goddess or arts, music and knowledge. Her name is derived from two words, ‘saras’ meaning – flow and ‘wati’ meaning – a woman. A huge three to ten kilometer wide river flowed 10,000 years ago. People living on its river banks called it the Saraswati River. The river carried water from the Himalayan glaciers and flowed through the northwest Indian plains and during the wet rainy seasons, the river reached the sea.
An important role has been played by the river in development of civilization in the Indus Valley. The river waters started drying up during the Harappan and Late Harappan phases and gradually became associated more with music, arts and literatures. Saraswati River began embodying the concepts of creativity, intelligence, enlightenment, consciousness, power, education and creativity.
Goddess Saraswati is depicted as a light skinned beautiful woman in white outfit signifying the purity of true knowledge. She mounts a swan and is modestly dressed without jewels or ornaments thus signifying that she prefers knowledge over materialistic things. Her four arms represent ego, mind, alertness and intellect the four aspects of human personality. Her arms are said to also represent the 4 Vedas. She holds a pot of holy water, veena (music) and crystal beads (poetry) and book (prose) in her hands representing the purity of the art forms and their power to purify the thought of humans. The river is her source of original power. Saraswati Devi is the dawn goddess (her rays eliminate the darkness of ignorance) and she is also the river of consciousness (she uplifts creation).
