In Japan, the Buddhist goddess of eloquence and music, patron saint of the geishas, and reckoned as one of the seven → Shichi-Fukujin, the gods of good luck. She is represented wearing a jewelled diadem and holding in her hands a stringed...

Benzaiten (弁才天, 弁財天) is the Japanese name of the goddess Saraswati; there was an important river in ancient India of this name (see Vedic Saraswati River). Worship of Benzaiten arrived in Japan during the 6th through 8th centuries, mainly...