Lakshmi Puja

Laxmi puja is performed during Divali, the festival of lights. According to tradition people would put small oil lamps outside their homes on Diwali and hope Lakshmi will come to bless them.

Goddess Lakshmi is worshipped by those who wish to acquire or to preserve wealth. It is believed that Lakshmi (wealth) goes only to those houses which are clean and where the people are hardworking. She does not visit the places which are unclean/dirty or where the people are lazy.

In the Sri Vaishnava philosophy however, Sri (Lakshmi) is honored as the "Iswarigm sarva bhootanam" i.e. the Supreme goddess and not just the goddess of wealth. This is an important distinction between Sri Vaishnavism and other materialistic philosophies.

Ashta Lakshmi (Sanskrit: अष्टलक्ष्मी,Aṣṭalakṣmī, lit. "eight Lakshmis") are a group of eight secondary manifestations of the goddess Lakshmi, who preside over eight sources of wealth and thus represent the powers of Shri-Lakshmi. They are:

• आदि लक्ष्मी Ādi Lakṣmī [The First manifestation of Lakshmi]
• धान्य लक्ष्मी Dhānya Lakṣmī [Granary wealth]
• धैर्य लक्ष्मी Dhairya Lakṣmī [Wealth of courage]
• गज लक्ष्मी Gaja Lakṣmī [Elephants, symbols of wealth]
• सन्तान लक्ष्मी Santāna Lakṣmī [Wealth of continuity, progeny]
• विजय लक्ष्मी Vijaya Lakṣmī [Wealth of victory]
• विद्या लक्ष्मी Vidyā Lakṣmī [Wealth of knowledge and education]
• धन लक्ष्मी Dhana Lakṣmī [Monetary wealth]