The Goddess of Artists and Intellectuals: The Worship of Saraswati in the Cultures of the Buddhist East

Abstract

The article considers the incorporation of Hindu deity into the Indo-Buddhist pantheon, the formation of a new iconography and mythological adaptation. The authors study the reception of Saraswati’s worship in Tibet and the Goddess’s establishment as a patroness of monastery intellectuals. The authors reveal the peculiarities of the transformation of Saraswati’s functional characteristics in the Far Eastern cultures as well as its inclusion into the traditional religious structures through the actualization of the deity’s generic features.

Keywords

• Сарасвати
• Янченма
• Бэндзайтэн
• индийский буддизм
• тибетский буддизм
• религия бон
• китайский буддизм
• японский буддизм
• буддийское искусство.