Brittney Andrade Tuesday 20 March 2018. HUMA 1860 – The nature of religion: an introduction TUTR 07 Iconography of the supernatural and the divine: Lakshmi In Hindu mythology, there are both gods and dee. Worshiping goddesses can be seen as a source of power and inspiration for women. I decided to focus my research on Lakshmi as she is the goddess of wealth, luck and prosperity. She is the wife of Vishnu, one of the main deities of Hinduism. It provides not only material wealth, but also good health and a joyful family life. Lakshmi was born from the ocean sitting on a lotus while holding a flower in her hand. In Hindu art, she has full breasts, wide hips and is always seen smiling brightly. She wears a red saree with coins raining from two of her four hands. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay In his other two hands he holds lotuses, a flower that represents the spiritual gifts he bestows on others. She is often shown sitting on a lotus and being anointed by two elephants. During my research, I found that the role of being a good wife and mother is described as the most important thing to people. In my opinion, this can be related to the more substantive result on which the understanding of gender equality is based. This is the belief that men and women are born with different qualities. In contrast to gender theory, the differences between men and women are largely publicly invented. For most Hindu families, Lakshmi is the goddess of the home and is especially popular with women. Although she is worshiped daily, the festive month of October is the special month of Lakshmi. Lakshmi is usually depicted as a beautiful woman with golden complexion, with four hands, sitting or standing on a fully blossomed lotus and holding a lotus bud, representing beauty, purity and fertility. His four hands represent the four ends of human life: dharma or righteousness, kama or desires, artha or wealth, and moksha or liberation from the cycle of birth and death. Cascades of gold coins are always seen flowing from her hands, suggesting that those who worship her will obtain wealth. He always wears red clothes embroidered in gold. Red symbolizes activity and gold lining indicates prosperity. Believed to be the daughter of mother goddess Durga and the wife of Vishnu, Lakshmi symbolizes the active energy of Vishnu. Two elephants are often shown standing next to the goddess and splashing water. This symbolizes that endless effort, when practiced in accordance with one's dharma and governed by wisdom and purity, leads to both material and spiritual prosperity. To symbolize her many attributes, Lakshmi can appear in eight different forms, representing everything from knowledge to food grains. The importance attributed to Lakshmi's presence in every family makes her an essentially domestic deity. Families worship Lakshmi as a symbol of providing for the well-being and prosperity of the family. Friday is traditionally the day on which Lakshmi is worshipped. In this study I chose a gender approach. This part describes research on gender and Hinduism. The information I chose to focus on is the relationship between Hinduism and feminism. Some Indian women refuse to call themselves feminists because the term itself comes from the West and not from Indian female society. For this reason the word feminist cannot be used in the Indian context. Those who willingly choose to call themselves feminists sometimes prefer to exclude religion because they find it oppressive and refuse to mix the two. Femininity and masculinity are key words when you.