Saraswati (Sanskrit: सरस्वती, Sarasvatī ) is
the Hindu goddess of knowledge, music, arts and science. She is the companion of Brahma, also revered as his Shakti (power). It was with her knowledge,
that Brahma created the universe. She is a part of trinity
"Saraswati", "Lakshmi" and "Parvati". All the
three forms help trinity "Brahma", "Vishnu" and
"Shiva" in the creation, maintenance and destruction of the Universe. The Goddess is also revered by
believers of the Jain religion of west and central India.
The
name Saraswati comes from saras (meaning "flow") and wati (meaning
"she who has flow"). In Telugu Language she is also known as
chaduvula talli, Sharada. In
Konkani, she is referred to as Sharada, Veenapani, Pustaka dharini,
Vidyadayini. In Kannada, variants of her name include Sharade, Sharadamba,
Vani, Veenapani in the famous Shringeri temple. In Tamil, she is also known as
kalaimagal, Kalaivaani, Vaani. She
is also addressed as Sharada (the one who loves the autumn season), Veena
pustaka dharani (the one holding books and a Veena), Vaakdevi, Vagdevi, Vani
(all meaning "speech"), Varadhanayagi (the one bestowing boons) and
many other names.
In
addition to her role as a goddess of learning, Saraswati is known as
"Druga" in reference to her role as a guardian of Earth.
"Druga" refers to her fighting off Drug, the name for a female demon
in ancient Veda, from the Sanskrit root druh, "to be hostile". The
name Druga is made of Sanskrit dru or dur ("with difficulty") and gā
or jā ("come", "go").
Read more about Saraswati Puja @ Wikipedia.
