Savita (सविता) is from the Sanskrit *savitṛ* — "the one who brings forth, the sun" — one of the names of the Vedic solar deity Savitr, who is invoked in the most sacred of all Hindu prayers, the **Gayatri Mantra** (Rigveda 3.62.10), recited daily by millions of Hindus for over 3,000 years. **As a feminine given name, Savita is widely used across India and means "radiance, sunlight, life-giving energy."** **Savita Halappanavar (1991-2012)** — Indian-Irish dentist whose death in Galway, Ireland, from complications of a septic miscarriage after being denied an abortion, became the **catalyst for the 2018 Irish referendum that repealed the Eighth Amendment and legalized abortion in Ireland**; her name became a rallying symbol of the "Repeal the 8th" movement and a mural of her face in Dublin became a focal point for the campaign. **Savita Ambedkar (1909-2003)** — Indian social activist and physician; second wife of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar (chief architect of the Indian Constitution); a key figure in the Dalit Buddhist movement. **Savita Devi** — Indian classical thumri singer. **Savitri** is a closely related Sanskrit name (covered separately) — the devoted wife who won her husband back from Yama, god of death.
Featured throughout Hindu devotion and modern Irish social history.
Savita reduces to six — the number of the Gayatri Mantra.