More about Goddess Saraswati

She is worshipped as the consort of Bhrahma the creator. Legend has it that Bhrahma the creator acquired the power to think and create only through the power of Saraswati and that it was Saraswati that enabled Bhrahma to listen to the naadabhrahmam the primordial sound which is revered as the source of all creation. Saraswati is also referred to as Sharda the fountainhead of knowledge who guides seekers from darkness to light and from ignorance to spiritual upliftment.

The now extinct river Saraswati, once an integral part of Vedic culture is associated with Saraswati the Goddess of knowledge. Legend has it that when Shiva opened his third eye, the flame that emanated threatened to destroy everything in it's path. Only Saraswati the source of wisdom was unperturbed by the potence of the flame, owing to her firm understanding that the flame would only destroy what was impure. She then took the form of a river, carried the flame deep into the sea and transformed it into a fire breathing mare and declared that the creature of destruction would stay underground as long as wisdom was sought after and that it would surface if this search was totally abandoned.

People of West Bengal are very fond of Saraswati as well as of Kali. The Kali temple in Calcutta is famous, as its priest was Sri Ramakrishna, the guru of Swami Vivekananda.

Shrines dedicated to Saraswati are commonly seen in many Saivite temples all over south India, located to the right of Parvati's shrine. There is a lone temple dedicated to Saraswati near Thanjavur in Tamilnadu. There are shrines to Bhrahma and Saraswati at Uttamar Koyil near Tiruchirappalli in Tamilnadu.

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