Goddess Benzaiten, The Japanese Avatar Of Goddess Saraswati

A white dragon carrying a woman as she played the musical instrument, lute, and her robes fluttering in the wind – this was an image in a woodblock print from Japan in the 18th century.

She is the Japanese Buddhist kami (deity), called Benzaiten or Benten. Interestingly, she has originated from the beloved goddess of Hindus – Saraswati.

Among the many Vedic gods and goddesses that reached Japan, through Buddhist texts and teachings and took a local form, Benzaiten is one of them.
These manifestations represent a fusion of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Shintoism, the native religion of Japan focusing on nature and its various expressions. According to MAP Academy Encyclopedia of Art, “Benten, ruling over ‘all that flows’ – music, water, wealth and time – retains many aspects of Saraswati including the veena which becomes the biwa (lute), the company of a white animal (in this case, a dragon in the place of a swan) and the multiple hands holding up spiritually symbolic weapons.

She also holds a single-pronged vajra and a chakra, recognisable symbols from Buddhist and Hindu religious iconography.” Just as Saraswati became Benten, Lakshmi became Kichijoten or Kisshoten, Kubera became Bishamon, and Shiva’s Buddhist manifestation Mahakala became Daikokuten – sometimes also represented in feminine form as Daikokunyo.”

Benzaiten or Benten is prominently worshipped in Japan, and there are many water- front shrines dedicated to her. She is worshipped as one of the Seven Lucky Gods and is the patron of music and the arts in Japan. The Zeniarai Benten Shrine in Kamakura, Japan is very popular. It’s believed that coins will multiply if one washes them in the spring waters of this shrine’s cave. Enoshima Benzaiten, an hour’s drive from the capital city of Tokyo is also a shrine dedicated to Goddess. The other two famous shrines are, Tsukubusuma Shrine and Itsukushima Shrine.