Goddess Lakshmi is worshipped by Hindus as the goddess of both spiritual and materialistic wealth and prosperity. Goddess Lakshmi symbolises good luck and the word ‘Lakshmi’ itself is derived from the Sanskrit word ‘lakshya’ which means goal or aim. On the full moon night of Kojagaripurnima, Durga Pooja is celebrated.
Goddess Lakshmi is personified as a beautiful woman, dressed in red and golden, with four hands, standing or seated on a Lotus, holding a lotus bud in one hand and showering gold coins from another.
The lotus bud in her hand signifies beauty, fertility and purity. Her four hands stand for the four virtues of life: righteousness(dharma), desire (kama), wealth(artha) and salvation(moksha). The gold coins falling from her hands represent the wealth attained by her worshippers.
Two elephants spraying water behind her symbolise that incessant effort, in agreement with one’s Dharma and governed by purity and wisdom, leads to prosperity—both spiritual and material.
The red in her clothes signifies activity and the golden symbolises prosperity. Goddess Lakshmi is also Lord Vishnu’s active energy and appears as Lakshmi-Narayan (Goddess Lakshmi accompanying Lord Vishnu).
Goddess Lakshmi is also a mother Goddess and is also referred to as Mata(mother). She is the female counterpart of Lord Vishnu and hence is also called ‘Shri’, the female energy of the Supreme Being.
Goddess Lakshmi is highly revered and on the full moon nights following Dushera or DurgaPooja, she is ceremonially worshipped in all Hindu homes. It is believed that on full moon nights,
Goddess Lakshmi visits each house and blesses its inhabitants with wealth and prosperity. Goddess Lakshmi is also worshipped especially on the holy occasion of Diwali.
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