auroradiation:

Sarasvati, one goddess has three different looks in three different areas! 🇮🇳🇨🇳🇯🇵

I think it’s best that I give a few explanations about this drawing.

Sarasvati was originally a goddess of Hinduism. After Buddhism came into being, the much younger religion borrowed a lot of materials from Hinduism, one of which was the Hindu goddess. Later when Buddhism spread to China and Japan, it brought her along. Even though Buddhism is almost non-existent in India🇮🇳 nowadays, it still has great influence in southeast Asia. In China🇨🇳 Sarasvati is known as 妙音天女, a bodhisattva of wisdom. In Japan🇯🇵 she becomes Benzaiten 弁才天, the only female goddess in Shichifukujin.

Of course there are many other theories about how these different images come about and maybe Sarasvati has other identities in other areas as well. It’s all opened to discussion. I only begin to learn about all these not long ago so please forgive me if I make any mistakes😢