Lakshmi: An Introduction

Goddess of material abundance, affluence,authority and auspiciousness, Lakshmi is the most popular goddess of the Hindu pantheon.An understanding of her helps one appreciate the Hindu attitude towards wealthand power. This book brings together stories of the goddess compiled from Vedas,Puranas, Tantras and folk narratives. It contains over 200 images from differentparts of India, from different times, each in a different style. Symbolsassociated with fertility that are an integral part of Lakshmi worship are alsoincluded. The book explains her attributes and her enigmatic association with demons and thenether regions and gives description of rituals, temples, and festivals dedicated to herphilosophical and metaphysical thoughts that make her worship significant evenin modern time. The book also includes the 108 names of the goddess that hold the promise of materialfulfilment as well as the text and simple translation of Kankadhara (inflowing gold) Stotra ofAdi Shankaracharya.