Saraswati Day

Saraswati Day is held every 210 days in honour of Saraswati, the Hindu goddess of knowledge, music, arts, wisdom, and learning.

Saraswati is said to help the trinity of Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva create, maintain, and regenerate the universe. On this holy day, she is thanked.

Saraswati is obtained from two local Balinese words: sara and swaandthi. The two words translate to mean ‘the one who has all knowledge’ or ‘the one who gives meaning’. In some areas, the name translates to ‘one who is as a stream of knowledge’ and is thought to give understanding to those keen on learning.

The symbol of this goddess is a pretty four-armed goddess illustrated as playing the zither and holding up scriptures. This illustration demonstrates the thirst for knowledge.

The hallmark of the celebrations is the provision of offerings by locals regardless of their location, whether at school, at home, at the office, on the farm, or in the temples. These offerings are varied, but one similarity is that they are often placed in books and in the middle of pages with holy scripture. This is done in light of the celebration of knowledge, which one can get from these books.

Also, it is typical for Balinese to avoid reading or writing in books on this day as all the books are offered up to Saraswati. As evening falls, religious books are read in temples or at home to honour the goddess.