Vagdevi · Goddess of learning, music and speech
Saraswati
Saraswati, dressed in white and seated on a lotus, plays the veena and holds the book of all learning. Students, musicians and writers pray to her before they begin. Say her prayer, keep Vasant Panchami, and see when to worship her next in your city.
- Her day
- Thursday
- Next: Thu 29 Oct
For New Delhi
Saraswati Puja: books and instruments set before her, yellow worn, and children write their first letters.
- Every Thursday
- Thu 29 OctHer day of the week
- Vijaya Dashami
- Sat 9 Oct
Say her prayer before learning
सरस्वति नमस्तुभ्यं वरदे कामरूपिणि।
विद्यारम्भं करिष्यामि सिद्धिर्भवतु मे सदा॥
Saraswati namastubhyam, varade kamarupini,
Vidyarambham karishyami, siddhir bhavatu me sada.
Saraswati, I bow to you, giver of boons, who takes whatever form she wishes. I am beginning to learn: may I always succeed.
हे सरस्वती, आपको नमन, वरदान देने वाली, जो मनचाहा रूप धर लेती हैं। मैं पढ़ाई शुरू कर रहा हूँ: मुझे सदा सफलता मिले।
Said before a lesson, an exam or a child’s first letters. Some say “jnanarupini”, she who is knowledge, in place of “kamarupini”.
A simple puja at home
Thursday is kept for Saraswati in many homes, and Vasant Panchami is her great day of the year. A short puja before her image is enough, with your books or instrument beside it. Follow your family’s way where it differs.
- Clean the place of worship and set her image there, on a white or yellow cloth.
- Place your books, pens or instrument before her.
- Light a ghee lamp and incense, and offer white or yellow flowers.
- Offer fruit and a yellow sweet.
- Chant Om Aim Saraswatyai Namah 108 times, or say the Saraswati Vandana.
- On Vasant Panchami, help a small child write their first letters.
- Share the prasad.
What you need
- Her image or picture
- A white or yellow cloth
- White or yellow flowers
- A ghee lamp and incense
- Books, pens or an instrument
- Fruit and a yellow sweet as prasad
Prayers for the puja
Who is Saraswati
Saraswati is the goddess of knowledge, music, the arts and speech. She is drawn dressed in white, seated on a white lotus by a river, with a veena in two of her hands and a book and a rosary in the others, and a swan beside her.
In the Rigveda she is a great river and a goddess of the waters; later she becomes Vak, speech itself, and in the Puranas the power of Brahma the creator, who gives his world knowledge and order. With Lakshmi and Parvati she is one of the three great goddesses.
She asks for nothing grand: a clear mind, honest work and a love of learning. That is why students set their books at her feet.
- Sharada worshipped at Sringeri and once in Kashmir
- Vagdevi goddess of speech
- Bharati eloquence
- Vani the voice
- Veenapani she who holds the veena
- Hamsavahini she who rides the swan
ॐ ऐं सरस्वत्यै नमः
Om Aim Saraswatyai Namah
I bow to Saraswati: “Aim” is her seed sound.
सरस्वती को मेरा नमन: “ऐं” उनका बीज मंत्र है।
महो अर्णः सरस्वती प्र चेतयति केतुना।
धियो विश्वा वि राजति॥
Maho arnah Saraswati pra chetayati ketuna,
Dhiyo vishva vi rajati.
Saraswati, a great flood, wakes us with her light, and shines through every thought.
सरस्वती, एक विशाल धारा, अपने प्रकाश से हमें जगाती हैं और हर विचार में चमकती हैं।
The Saraswati Vandana
Said in schools across India
या कुन्देन्दुतुषारहारधवला या शुभ्रवस्त्रावृता।
या वीणावरदण्डमण्डितकरा या श्वेतपद्मासना॥
या ब्रह्माच्युतशङ्करप्रभृतिभिर्देवैः सदा वन्दिता।
सा मां पातु सरस्वती भगवती निःशेषजाड्यापहा॥
Ya kundendu tushara hara dhavala, ya shubhra vastravrita,
Ya veena vara danda mandita kara, ya shveta padmasana,
Ya Brahmachyuta Shankara prabhritibhir devaih sada vandita,
Sa mam patu Saraswati Bhagavati nihshesha jadyapaha.
She who is white as jasmine, the moon, snow and a string of pearls, who is dressed in pure white, whose hands hold the fine veena, who sits on a white lotus, whom Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva and all the gods always worship: may that Saraswati, the blessed goddess who takes away all dullness of mind, protect me.
जो चमेली, चन्द्रमा, बर्फ़ और मोतियों की माला जैसी उजली हैं, जो शुद्ध सफ़ेद वस्त्र पहनती हैं, जिनके हाथ सुंदर वीणा से सजे हैं, जो सफ़ेद कमल पर बैठती हैं, जिन्हें ब्रह्मा, विष्णु, शिव और सब देवता सदा पूजते हैं: मन की सारी जड़ता दूर करने वाली वे भगवती सरस्वती मेरी रक्षा करें।
Saraswati through the ages
- In the Rigveda
The river
The Rigveda praises her as the best of mothers, the best of rivers and the best of goddesses (2.41.16): a great river flowing from the mountains to the sea, on whose banks the Vedic rites were held.
- In the Vedas
Vak, speech
Later Vedic texts make her one with Vak, speech itself, and the inspiration of the poets: the river becomes a flow of words and thought.
- In the Puranas
Brahma’s power
She is the Shakti of Brahma the creator: he makes the world, and through her it gains knowledge, names and order.
- In the Devi Mahatmya
Mahasaraswati
With Mahakali and Mahalakshmi she is one of the Goddess’s three great forms; the last part of the Devi Mahatmya, the defeat of Shumbha and Nishumbha, is hers.
- In Kashmir and the south
Sharada
As Sharada she was worshipped at the old shrine of Sharada Peeth in Kashmir, which gave its name to a script, and she is worshipped at Sringeri, where Adi Shankaracharya set up her temple.
- Beyond India
Benzaiten
Jains honour her as the goddess of their scriptures, and Buddhists carried her east: in Japan she is Benzaiten, still drawn with a stringed instrument by the water.
One goddess known in many ages and places. Traditions and scholars read these links in different ways.
What her symbols mean
The veena
Music and every art. Its strings sound true only when tuned, as the mind gives its best when it is calm and steady.
The book
The Vedas and all learning: knowledge written down, kept and passed on from teacher to student.
The rosary
Her akshamala is meditation and steady practice, a lesson repeated until it is known. Its beads are also read as the letters of the alphabet.
The swan
Her hamsa is said to separate milk from water: the wise mind that keeps what is true and leaves what is false.
Her stories
Across India
Bengal
Saraswati Puja on Vasant Panchami: images in schools, colleges and homes, books set at her feet and not opened that day, and small children writing their first letters.
Kerala
Books and tools are placed before her late in Navratri and left untouched; on Vijaya Dashami they are taken back, and children write their first letters in rice at Vidyarambham.
Tamil Nadu
Saraswathi Puja on Navami, with Ayudha Puja: books, instruments, tools and vehicles cleaned and worshipped; on Vijaya Dashami new lessons in school and music begin.
Telangana and Andhra Pradesh
Aksharabhyasam, a child’s first letters, at Basar and other temples, with the biggest crowds on Vasant Panchami, called Sri Panchami.
Karnataka
At Sringeri, Sharadamba is dressed in a different form each day of Navratri, and children begin their learning at her temple.
North India
Basant Panchami: yellow clothes and yellow sweets for the coming spring, Saraswati Puja in schools, and kites in Punjab.
Her temples
- Sringeri Sharadamba TempleSringeri, Karnataka
- Gnana Saraswati TempleBasar, Nirmal, Telangana
- Koothanur Maha Saraswathi TempleKoothanur, Tiruvarur, Tamil Nadu
- Panachikkadu Saraswathi TemplePanachikkad, Kottayam, Kerala: the Dakshina Mookambika
Questions
When is Vasant Panchami in 2027?
Vasant Panchami is on Thursday 11 February 2027 in New Delhi, with the muhurat 7:03 am to 12:36 pm. Pick your city at the top of this page for its own date and muhurat.
Which day is Saraswati’s?
There is no one fixed day. Thursday, the day of the guru and of learning, is the one most often kept, and some homes keep Wednesday or Friday. Her great day each year is Vasant Panchami, and in the south the last days of Navratri.
What is Saraswati’s mantra?
Om Aim Saraswatyai Namah, with her seed sound “Aim”. Before study many say Saraswati namastubhyam, and schools across India sing the Saraswati Vandana, “Ya kundendu”.
Why does Saraswati wear white?
White is purity and the clear light of knowledge: she is drawn white as jasmine and the moon, dressed in white and seated on a white lotus.
Why does Saraswati ride a swan?
The swan is said to separate milk from water, as wisdom separates the true from the false. In some images, above all in the south, she rides a peacock.
What is Vidyarambham?
The start of learning: an elder or a priest guides a small child’s finger to write the first letters, often in rice or sand. It is done on Vijaya Dashami in Kerala and the south, and on Vasant Panchami in many other places.