Goddess Lakshmi or Lakshmi is second of the 3 principle deities of the Hindu female trinity, called Tridevi, comprising of Saraswati, Lakshmi and Parvati. The goddess Lakshmi is called as Shri, the feminine energy of supreme being. She is the harbinger of wealth, prosperity, fertility and purity. She is the goddess of wealth and prosperity, both in the material sense and the spiritual sense. She is the goddess that leads one to their goals, Lakshya, hence the name Lakshmi.

It is said that Lakshmi resides in places of hard work, virtue and bravery but leaves whenever these qualities are not apparent anymore. The Hindus believe that Sita was an incarnation of Lakshmi. She is the consort and driving energy (Shakthi) of Vishnu. One of most compelling stories in Hindu mythology is the churning of the milky ocean, the story of the gods vs. the demons and their fight to gain immortality, wherein Lakshmi was reborn.

She is depicted standing or sitting on a lotus, holding a lotus in one or two of her 4 hands, which in Vedic texts symbolises knowledge and self realisation. She is represented wearing red with gold on it symbolising good fortune. The posture is that of a Dana or giving Mudra. Her four arms are symbolic of the four goals of humanity as per Hinduism: Dharma (pursuit of ethical, moral life), Artha (pursuit of wealth, means of life), Kama (pursuit of love, emotional fulfillment), and Moksha (pursuit of self-knowledge, liberation).

She is depicted with one or two elephants, sometimes an owl. Her hands are shown in the Dana Mudra, and sometimes holding a jar of money. As mentioned in early Vedic texts, the use of the term ‘Laxmi’ is a complex concept, with the presence of both good and evil at mortal birth and the constant urge of the eradication of evil by the force of will – IchchaShakthi.