Mr & Mrs swan

On my way to work a place outside of Oslo I noticed this swan couple from the bus window, and went back to the river arm where they lived together with hundreds of ducks and gulls. I have always felt that there is something special with swans, not only because they look so majestic and calm, but also because they mate for life.

In Hinduism swans are compared to saints who are able to be detached to the world, just as a swan's feather does not get wet in water. The swan is concidered to be the vehicle of Goddess Saraswati, - it symbolises purity par excellence. It is said that the swan if offered a mixture of milk and water, can to drink the milk alone. Therefore Goddess Saraswati the goddess of knowledge is seen riding the swan because the swan symbolizes discrimination between the good and the bad or between the eternal and the transient.