Lakshmi is the goddess of prosperity, beauty and good fortune, the consort of Vishnu, and one of the most widely worshipped deities in India. Her name is often taken to mean wealth, but the older idea of shri, the word that goes with her, is wider: it covers fortune, grace, splendour and well-being of every kind. The tradition of the Ashta Lakshmi, “the eight Lakshmis”, spells this out by giving that single goddess eight forms, each presiding over one kind of good thing in a household and a life.
This section has one page for each of the eight. Everything here is tradition set out as tradition: the forms, the images and the customs are what temples, hymns and families have handed down, and they vary by region. If your family or temple follows a different way, follow theirs.
The eight forms
| Form | Meaning | The abundance she stands for |
|---|---|---|
| Adi Lakshmi | The primal Lakshmi | The source from which the others come |
| Dhana Lakshmi | Lakshmi of wealth | Money, gold and the means to live well |
| Dhanya Lakshmi | Lakshmi of grain | Food, crops and a full kitchen |
| Gaja Lakshmi | Lakshmi with elephants | Royal standing, authority and rain |
| Santana Lakshmi | Lakshmi of offspring | Children and the continuity of the family |
| Veera Lakshmi | Lakshmi of courage (also Dhairya) | Valour and steadiness in hard times |
| Vijaya Lakshmi | Lakshmi of victory (also Jaya) | Success and the end of an effort |
| Vidya Lakshmi | Lakshmi of knowledge (also Aishvarya) | Learning, skill and wisdom |
Where the lists differ
There is no single, universal list. The eight above are the ones most often given in the Ashtalakshmi hymn that is sung in the south and in the images of the Ashtalakshmi temples, but even there the names change a little. A few points are worth knowing.
The first form is called Adi Lakshmi in most lists, and Maha Lakshmi in some. Some temples treat Maha Lakshmi as the goddess who stands above all eight and put Adi Lakshmi in the circle with the others.
The sixth form is Veera Lakshmi in some lists and Dhairya Lakshmi in others. Veera means heroic and Dhairya means steady courage. The two are close in meaning and are not shown differently from each other in any way we can say is fixed.
The seventh form is Vijaya Lakshmi in most lists and Jaya Lakshmi in a few. Vijaya and Jaya both mean victory.
The eighth form is Vidya Lakshmi in most lists and Aishvarya Lakshmi in some. Aishvarya means lordship, prosperity and power, so the meaning is closer to wealth than to learning. Where a list has both Dhana Lakshmi and Aishvarya Lakshmi, it may leave out Vidya.
Other sets exist. Some lists name Saubhagya Lakshmi (good fortune in marriage), Yashas Lakshmi (fame) or Rajya Lakshmi (the fortune of a kingdom) in place of one of the eight. We use the most common list and say on each page where its names differ.
Where the idea comes from
The older texts do not set out the eight as a list. The Rigveda has the Shri Suktam hymn in its supplement (see the Shri Suktam page), which praises Shri and Lakshmi with a wide range of images: gold, elephants, lotus, grain, cattle and fame. The Puranas tell how Lakshmi rose from the churning of the ocean, a story told on the Kurma page of the Dashavatara section. The grouping into eight forms is a devotional arrangement, found in the Ashtalakshmi stotram and in temples of recent centuries, and it draws on those older images. Each of the eight can be matched to a theme that the older hymns already name, and that is part of why the scheme feels natural to many readers.
We say this plainly because a page about a goddess can sound as if everything is ancient and fixed. The Lakshmi of the older hymns is one goddess, and the eight forms are a way of seeing her, not eight people.
Where she is worshipped
Lakshmi is worshipped in every Vishnu temple as the consort of the god, in her own temples, and in homes. The best-known place for the eight together is the Ashtalakshmi Kovil in Besant Nagar, Chennai, a seaside temple of the twentieth century that has a shrine to each of the eight on its levels. A temple of the same name stands in Hyderabad, and others in several cities. Ambabai, the great goddess of Kolhapur, is known as Mahalakshmi, and her temple is one of the oldest in Maharashtra. Many other places have a Lakshmi temple; we give those we are sure of on each page, and we do not quote visiting hours or rules. Check the temple’s own site or notice for these.
Festivals
The great days of Lakshmi are Diwali, Dhanteras, Sharad Purnima, Akshaya Tritiya and Navratri. Her main festival is Diwali, with the Lakshmi puja on the Amavasya evening; the steps are on the Diwali Lakshmi puja page. Dhanteras opens the Diwali days, with its own puja guide. Sharad Purnima is Lakshmi’s night in Bengal and Odisha, called Kojagari Lakshmi Puja, and Akshaya Tritiya is the day for gold and new beginnings. In the south, Varalakshmi Vratam is kept on the Friday before the full moon of Shravana. Each page of this section names the festival that suits its form best.
Hymns and texts
The Mahalakshmi Ashtakam, the Kanakadhara Stotram, the Lakshmi aarti and the Shri Suktam are all on this site. A reading of the planetary side of wealth is on the Lakshmi Yoga page. Nothing in these texts is a promise of money, and we do not offer one. They are hymns of devotion, and the tradition describes their fruit in the language of devotion.
Frequently asked questions
↳ Who are the Ashta Lakshmi?
They are the eight forms of Lakshmi: Adi, Dhana, Dhanya, Gaja, Santana, Veera (or Dhairya), Vijaya (or Jaya) and Vidya (or Aishvarya). Each stands for one kind of abundance.
↳ Are the eight Lakshmis different goddesses?
No. In the tradition they are eight forms of the one goddess Lakshmi, each shown with her own gestures and objects. The idea is that prosperity has many sides, not only money.
↳ Why do lists of the Ashta Lakshmi differ?
The grouping is a devotional arrangement and not a list in the old Sanskrit texts, so hymns and temples have named the forms in slightly different ways. Vidya and Aishvarya, and Veera and Dhairya, are the commonest swaps.
↳ Where is the Ashta Lakshmi temple?
The best-known is the Ashtalakshmi Kovil at Besant Nagar in Chennai, with a shrine for each form. A temple of the same name is in Hyderabad. Check the temple's official notice for visiting details.
↳ When are the Ashta Lakshmi worshipped?
There is no single day, but Diwali, Dhanteras, Sharad Purnima, Akshaya Tritiya and Navratri are the main days of Lakshmi. Fridays are the usual weekday for her.