Adi Lakshmi: The Primal Form of Lakshmi, Iconography, Story and Worship

Adi Lakshmi means “the first Lakshmi” or “the original Lakshmi”. She is the first of the eight forms in the Ashta Lakshmi and in most lists she comes first, because the tradition sees her as the source: the goddess herself, before she is divided into the many kinds of prosperity that the other seven stand for. In some temples and hymns she is called Maha Lakshmi, “the great Lakshmi”, and sometimes the two names are used together.

This page sets out her image, the stories the tradition tells about her, and where and when she is worshipped. All of it is tradition and is given as such.

The name and her place in the list

The word adi means first, original or primal. It is also the word used for the first of a line: Adi Shesha is the first serpent, Adi Shakti the first power. Adi Lakshmi is therefore the Lakshmi who is there at the start. In the Ashtalakshmi stotram that is sung in the south she is the opening verse, and in the temples of the eight she is usually the first shrine one reaches.

The tradition does not make her a separate goddess. Where the other seven are named for what they give (wealth, grain, children, victory), Adi Lakshmi is named for what she is. In some lists the first place is held by Maha Lakshmi and Adi Lakshmi is not named at all, so you may find eight forms with a different first name. This is one of the places where lists differ, as the hub page explains.

Form and iconography

Adi Lakshmi is usually shown with four arms, seated on a lotus. In her upper two hands she holds lotus flowers. Her lower right hand makes the gesture of fearlessness (abhaya) and her lower left hand the gesture of giving (varada). In some images one of the upper hands holds a white flag, a sign of peace, though not every image has it. She is dressed in a sari, often shown in red or yellow, and wears a crown and a garland of lotuses.

The lotus is her oldest sign. The Shri Suktam (see the Shri Suktam page) calls her lotus-seated, lotus-coloured and lotus-eyed, and it is the same image that appears again and again in the carvings of her. The lotus grows in muddy water and still opens clean, and writers of devotional commentary use it as a picture of grace that is not stained by the world it comes from.

The details of colour and objects differ between temples and between painters, so an image that does not match the description here is not wrong. It belongs to a different line of practice.

The story as tradition tells it

The best-known story about the birth of Lakshmi is the churning of the ocean (samudra manthana). The gods and the demons, wishing to win the nectar of immortality, used Mount Mandara as a churning rod and the serpent Vasuki as the rope, and Vishnu in the form of a tortoise held the mountain on his back. Many things rose from the ocean, and among them came Lakshmi, seated on a lotus, who chose Vishnu as her husband. The story is told on the Kurma page of the Dashavatara section.

A second tradition, found in the Vishnu Purana, says that Lakshmi was born as the daughter of the sage Bhrigu and his wife Khyati and was married to Vishnu, and that she was born again from the ocean when the world needed her. In the Puranas she is also said to have taken a form to be with Vishnu in each of his descents: she is Padma or Kamala when he is Vamana, Dharani when he is Parashurama, Sita when he is Rama and Rukmini when he is Krishna. The Vaishnava tradition of the south, the Shrivaishnava, gives Lakshmi a special place as the mediator between the devotee and the Lord.

Adi Lakshmi in the Ashta Lakshmi scheme draws on all of these. She is the Lakshmi who is always with Vishnu, whatever the story. Because the scheme itself is a devotional arrangement and not a text, there is no separate myth that belongs to Adi Lakshmi only.

What the form means

For readers who like to look for a meaning, the tradition gives a simple one. The other seven forms each give something: grain, money, children, courage. Adi Lakshmi gives none of these in particular, because she is the root from which all of them come. In this way of reading, the first form is a reminder that prosperity has one source and several branches, and that a person who has the branches without the root may find them empty.

That reading is a teaching, not a rule. Many devotees simply see her as the mother of the household, to whom one turns first.

Where she is worshipped

Adi Lakshmi has a shrine in each Ashtalakshmi temple. The best known is the Ashtalakshmi Kovil on the shore at Besant Nagar, Chennai, which has a shrine for each of the eight. Another Ashtalakshmi temple is in Hyderabad. Because she is the form who is also Maha Lakshmi, her worship merges with that of the great Lakshmi temples. The temple of Mahalakshmi at Kolhapur, where the goddess is known as Ambabai, is among the oldest centres of Lakshmi worship in Maharashtra, and the Mahalakshmi temple in Mumbai is a landmark of the city. In Tamil Nadu the Lakshmi of the Srirangam temple, Ranganayaki, is worshipped in a shrine beside Ranganatha.

We do not give opening hours, fees or rules. Check the temple’s own website or notice before you go.

Festivals and customs

As the primal form, Adi Lakshmi is part of every Lakshmi festival. The principal one is Diwali: on the Amavasya evening homes are cleaned, lamps are lit, and the family worships Lakshmi together with Ganesha. The steps are on the Diwali Lakshmi puja page. Friday is Lakshmi’s weekday, and many households light a lamp and offer flowers on that day. In Navratri the goddess is worshipped in many forms, and the Navadurga guide covers the nine forms of Durga; some families worship Lakshmi on the eighth or ninth day.

Hymns suited to the first Lakshmi are the Mahalakshmi Ashtakam and the Lakshmi aarti. Neither hymn is a promise of anything. They are texts of praise, and reading them is a quiet way to mark the day.

Frequently asked questions