64 Ancient Women’s Arts of Goddess Saraswati

Following the topic of ancient women’s arts and my two previous posts about some of them, I decided to share a full list of all 64 ancient women’s arts of Goddess Saraswati. I won’t be going into the details of all sixty-four arts. I invite you to read about some of them in one of my previous articles.

To give a little more explanation on what these ancient women’s arts are I want to elaborate on the title a little bit. These ancient arts are described in ancient Vedic texts, and to be more precise – in the infamous Kama Sutra. They are called “the arts of Goddess Saraswati” because this is the Goddess of knowledge, wisdom, learning, and performing arts. All of these arts were taught to a little girl from childhood in the ancient Vedic society. They were helping to become a woman, a married woman, a mother, and a grandmother. They were basically preparing her for her whole woman’s life.

A Woman Of High Quality

These 64 arts of Goddess Saraswati helped women to be well educated, in a feminine way, so that they are never bored, always wise, and their partners are happy and entertained as well. So, as we can see, in ancient Vedic times a feminine woman is not only the one who knows how to dress, cook, and make love but also someone who is deeply educated and knowledgeable.

Speaking of the art of making love. Of all 64 of ancient women’s arts, this art is considered the most important one. That tells us something. The main goal of them all was to help a woman to stay attractive and to get married. However, even if she is not married or if she is separated from her other half, the knowledge of these arts would help her in times of distress or survival. Here is the quote on that from Kama Sutra itself:

“A public woman, endowed with a good disposition, beauty and other winning qualities, and also versed in the above arts, obtains the name of a Ganika, or public woman of high quality, and receives a seat of honor in an assemblage of men. She is, moreover, always respected by the king, and praised by learned men, and her favor being sought for by all, she becomes an object of universal regard.

The daughter of a king too as well as the daughter of a minister, being learned in the above arts, can make their husbands favorable to them, even though these may have thousands of other wives besides themselves. If a wife becomes separated from her husband, and falls into distress, she can support herself easily, even in a foreign country, by means of her knowledge of these arts. Even the bare knowledge of them gives attractiveness to a woman, though the practice of them may be only possible or otherwise according to the circumstances of each case.”

Sixty-Four Ancient Women’s Arts

Although this list may appear as a universal list for both men and women (if you look it up online), there is actually a separate list of 64 men’s arts that describes what men should know and do. I will be sharing it in my next article, and I encourage you to compare both lists to get some insights. For now, let’s look at the list for women.

1. Singing
2. Playing a musical instrument
3. Dancing
4. Painting
5. Decorating the forehead (or making tilaka)
6. Decorating the floors with different colors with sand or flowers (or rangoli)
7. Decorating the house with flowers
8. Taking care of and decorating the body (teeth, hair, nails, skin, including using mehendi or henna tattoos)
9. Fixing colored glass tiles on the floor
10. The art of making bed in different ways for different occasions using pillows and throws
11. Producing music by striking glasses of water
12. The art of splashing water in a beautiful way
13. Knowledge of secret mantras
14. Making rosaries, necklaces, flower garlands
15. The art of decorating the head
16. The art of dressing with style
17. The art of decorating the outfit
18. The art of making perfumes
19. The art of making jewelry, understanding precious and semi-precious stones
20. The art of magic and performing tricks for the guests
21. The art of making tinctures and potions to increase attractiveness, courage, etc.
22. Manual skills in everything
23. Cooking (culinary skills), as well as the art of beautiful eating and drinking
24. Making various drinks
25. Tailoring and sewing
26. The art of embroidery
27. Imitating the sounds of a drum and guitar
28. Knowing riddles and the art of guessing them
29. Ability to rhyme, quickly and effortlessly rhyme
30. Mastering tongue twisters
31. The art of reading and chanting
32. The art of skillful story-telling
33. Completing a poem started by someone else
34. Making furniture out of simple materials
35. The art of wood carving
36. Some skills of carpentry
37. Knowing the basics of architecture and the ability to build a house or a temple
38. Distinguishing gold and silver, ability to work with metals
39. The art of healing with herbs
40. The art of juggling
41. Gardening
42. Knowledge of games that animals and birds play
43. Teaching parrots to speak
44. The art of making hair and massage
45. The art of understanding codes
46. The art of using sign language
47. Knowledge of foreign languages
48. Knowledge of making flower chariots
49. Knowledge of making spells and charms, as well as ways to avoid spells
50. The art of making and using simple mechanical devices
51. The art of memorizing things
52. Reading and playing altogether, impersonating
53. The art of confusing senses by mixing the fabrics, making them look like something else (make cotton appear like silk)
54. Knowledge of the meaning of the words
55. The art of using dictionaries and encyclopedias
56. The art of knowing what the book is about without reading it, the art of guessing
57. The art of mimicking and impersonating, turning into someone else
58. The art of covering the body in a non-revealing manner
59. Knowledge of specific gambling
60. Knowledge of playing chess or dice
61. The art of making dolls and toys for children
62. Knowledge of discipline and manners
63. The art of winning
64. The art of awakening Master (partner, spouse, Deity on the altar) with music at dawn

What do you think? Do you also think that some of them look like something men should know? I noticed it too. Wait until you see the list or men’s arts. They have something you would think is only for women.

And now you have plenty of ideas on what hobby to start next. And something is telling me when you learn some other things from the list, your next party won’t be boring.

All jokes aside, I find this list amazing and beautiful. It truly makes any woman a master of her own destiny, an empowered and educated woman. Such a woman can turn something ordinary into extraordinary, whether it is a house, a relationship, or a job. In other words, this list makes a woman a magician, a Goddess, a Queen and all of these together.