Saraswati

Saraswati is the goddess of learning, speech, music and the arts. She is shown in white, seated on a lotus or a swan, holding a veena, a book and a rosary of beads. She is worshipped across India in the Shakta and Vaishnava traditions. In Odisha, Saraswati Puja on Basanta Panchami is the great festival of schools and colleges, when books and pens are placed before her image. Many Odia families also begin a child's first writing on this day, in a ritual known as khadi chhuan.

Saraswati first appears in the Rigveda as a great river and as a goddess of purifying flow, inspiration and eloquent speech. Over time she became identified with Vac, the divine voice, and then with knowledge and the arts. The Puranas make her the consort of Brahma, born from his mind or his body...