Lakshmi Chalisa with Arti

Lakshmi (Sanskrit: लक्ष्मी, lakṣmī, ˈləkʂmiː) is the Hindu goddess of wealth, fortune and prosperity. She is the wife and shakti (energy) of Vishnu, a major god in Hinduism.[2] Lakshmi is also an important deity in Jainism and found in Jain temples,[3] as well as on the oldest surviving stupas and cave temples of Buddhism.[4] In Buddhist sects of Tibet, Nepal and southeast Asia, goddess Vasudhara mirrors the characteristics and attributes of the Hindu goddess Lakshmi with minor iconographic differences.[5]

Lakshmi is also called Sri[6] or Thirumagal because she is endowed with six auspicious and divine qualities, or Gunas, and is the divine strength of Vishnu. In Hindu mythologies, she was born from the churning of the primordial ocean (Samudra manthan) and she chose Vishnu as her eternal consort.[7] When Vishnu descended on the Earth as the avatars Rama and Krishna, Lakshmi descended as his respective consort Sita (Rama's wife) and Rukmini (Krishna's wife).[8][9] In the ancient scriptures of India, all women are declared to be embodiments of Lakshmi.[10] The marriage and relationship between Lakshmi and Vishnu as wife and husband, is the paradigm for rituals and ceremonies for the bride and groom in Hindu weddings.[11] Lakshmi is considered another aspect of the same supreme goddess principle in the Shaktism tradition of Hinduism.