Page:Hindu Feasts Fasts and Ceremonies.djvu/100

 ARASVATI in Hibdu mythology is the goddess of speech and learning and represented as the wife of Brahma, the creator or the supreme spirit. The ninth day of the month of Avani, corresponding to October, is considered most sacred in the year to this goddess. Generally the first nine days—Navaratri—of the bright half of this month is considered sacred either to Durga, Lakshmi, or Sarasvati, and throughout India worship on a grand scale is performed to these goddesses. ‘Though these days are thus sacred to one goddess or other, the last 3 days, from the 7th to the 9th of the Navaratri, are specially sacred to the goddess of learning, and the last of these festive days, the Na@vaimi, closes the ceremony by the worship of Sarasvati. During the Navaratri: days all the toys available in a Hindu household are displayed in fanciful arrangements in a large