Lakshmi
Lakshmi is the Hindu goddess of wealth and good fortune and the wife of Vishnu. She sits on a lotus, holds lotuses, lets gold coins fall from her palm, and is often flanked by elephants pouring water over her.
Meaning
The Hindu American Foundation describes Lakshmi seated on a lotus, with lotuses in her hands and at her feet, and notes that several of her names, Padma, Kamala and Ambuja, mean the lotus (see Padma). She is often shown with four hands, which the foundation reads as the four goals of life, kama, artha, dharma and moksha, wearing a red sari with gold thread, with coins raining from her palms and elephants in the background for power and hard work. She is the wife of Vishnu, and her avatars go with his: Sita with Rama and Rukmini with Krishna. The symbol Shri stands for her and for prosperity. Her emblems at Diwali, the lotus, the coins and her painted footprints, have pages of their own (Lakshmi’s lotus and coins and Lakshmi’s footprints).
Origin and history
The Vishnu Purana makes her Vishnu’s constant companion. In Wilson’s translation of 1840, as Vishnu descends among mankind in various shapes, so does Sri, his partner: in the other descents of Vishnu she is his associate, and if he takes a mortal form she becomes mortal too, changing her person to suit whatever character he puts on. The Hindu American Foundation gives the most popular account of her own appearance, from the Ramayana: she rose from the ocean of milk when the gods and the demons churned it for the nectar of immortality.
Gaja Lakshmi and the elephants
A Kalighat painting of about 1890 in the Cleveland Museum of Art shows her seated in the lotus position on a lotus, flanked by elephants that anoint her with water from pots held up in their trunks, the lotus her throne and the trunks an arch round her. The Hindu American Foundation describes Gaja Lakshmi flanked by a white male and a white female elephant, holding two lotuses, with her other hands in the gestures of fearlessness and of offering boons.
The eight Lakshmis
Lakshmi gives wealth of different kinds, and the Hindu American Foundation describes eight forms of her, Ashta Lakshmi, each with her own attributes. Adi Lakshmi, the first, grants liberation. Dhana Lakshmi gives money and also strength and perseverance; Dhanya Lakshmi, the harvest; Gaja Lakshmi, animal wealth; Santana Lakshmi, children; Veera Lakshmi, bravery; Vidya Lakshmi, knowledge; and Vijaya Lakshmi, victory. The foundation adds that her presence is invoked by keeping things clean, offering flowers and lighting lamps.
Her festivals
Diwali is for many Hindus a tribute to Lakshmi, the foundation says. In Nepal her worship is part of the five-day festival of Tihar, and she is also remembered on the fourth to sixth nights of Navaratri.
Read next
- Next in Hindu deities and their symbolsRamaRama is the hero of the Ramayana and one of the two most popular incarnations of Vishnu. He carries a bow and arrow, and is shown with his wife Sita, his brother Lakshmana and his devotee Hanuman.
- Lakshmi's lotus and coins at Diwali, the night of her pujaLakshmi’s lotus and coinsThe lotus she sits on and the gold coins that fall from her hand are the emblems of Lakshmi, the Hindu goddess of wealth and good fortune, who is worshipped on the new-moon night of Diwali. Jain merchant families keep a Lakshmi Puja of their own.
See also
Vishnu, Padma, Shiva, Parvati, Ganesha, Murugan.
Sources
- Lakshmi: Goddess of Prosperity (Hindu American Foundation), “Lakshmi: Goddess of Prosperity”, Hindu American Foundation, 2017, Hindu American Foundation, article text
- Ashta Lakshmi: the eight forms of Lakshmi (Syama Allard, Hindu American Foundation), Syama Allard, “Ashta Lakshmi: the eight forms of Lakshmi”, Hindu American Foundation, 2020, Hindu American Foundation, article text
- Gajalakshmi: Lakshmi with Elephants (2003.149, Cleveland Museum of Art), Gajalakshmi: Lakshmi with Elephants, c. 1890, Cleveland Museum of Art, 2003.149, collection description, Cleveland Museum of Art, Description
- The Vishnu Purana: A System of Hindu Mythology and Tradition, Translated by H. H. Wilson, 1840, John Murray, London (Internet Archive, Digital Library of India copy), Book I, chapter 9
The same shape elsewhere
Browse symbols formed from curves and waves.
Researched, edited and approved by Rory Hansen before publishing. Last reviewed October 10, 2026. How we research
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