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In Hinduism, Saraswati (less frequently romanized as Sarasvati) is the goddess of knowledge, wisdom, science, speech, and all arts-- music, painting, dance and literature. In India today, Hindus still revere Sarasvati as a goddess who is a reflection of the greater Mother, or DeviIn Hinduism, Devi (" goddess") is the personification of the supreme God as the Divine Mother of Hinduism. The Goddess, the female aspect of divinity, is usually considered to have an equal role with the male aspect as "energy" or the driving force ( Shak, and female dynamic energy, or ShaktiThis article is about the Hindu religious concept. For other meanings of the word see Shakti (disambiguation). In most South Asian languages, Shakti translates literally as power. In Hinduism, Shakti is an aspect of Devi, and a personification of God as t. Her festival is held in late January or early February and prayer, called pujaPuja pooja Sanskrit: adoration, homage, honour, respect, reverence, veneration, worship) is a Hindu religious ritual; in which offerings are made to a Hindu deity. During Puja, incense is commonly burned., is conducted. Since she is the goddess of knowledge, students often present her their books and supplies before they begin classes and her image sometimes appears on school gates. She is also the central deity of Indian Classical Musicians. Her consort is Brahma.

1 Origins and context in Hinduism

Sarasvati can be found in Vedic texts, such as Rig VedaThe Rig Veda #x94d (Sanskrit #x1e5b;c 'praise' + veda 'knowledge') is the earliest of the four Hindu religious scriptures known as the Vedas''. It consists of 1,017 hymns (1,028 including the apocryphal valakhilya hymns 8. 59) composed in Vedic Sanskrit,, and in Puranic texts, such as Ramayana. She likely originated as a Vedic river goddess; the river which once shared her name no longer exists, but where the banks of these rivers are believed to have once been, the earliest writing in India has been found. As a water goddess, she symbolises fertility, and prosperity . In the Rig-Veda(6,61,7) Sarasvati is credited with killing the asura (demon) Vritra, who represents drought, darkness, and chaos. She is often seen as equivalent to the other Vedic goddesses like Vk (divine word, also romanised as Vac), Savitri (Illumination) and Gayatri. In the Shakta tradition (worship of Shakti or Devi, the female aspect of the divinity), Sarasvati represents intelligence, consciousness and cosmic knowledge. In later Puranic literature Saraswati (Brahmi) becomes the consort of the creator god Brahma. Some texts place her as a foil to Lakshmi, Goddess of wealth.