Lakshmi In Hinduism, Lakshmi (लक्ष्मी, lakṣhmī) is the Goddess who leads to one’s goal (lakshya in Sanskrit), hence her name Lakshmi. For mankind, 8 types of goals are necessary – Spiritual enlightenment, food, knowledge, resources, progeny, abundance, patience and success, hence there are 8 or Ashta Lakshmis – Aadi Lakshmi, Dhaanya Lakshmi, Vidya Lakshmi, Dhana...
Diwali Diwali, Divali, Deepavali is the Hindu festival of lights, usually lasting five days and celebrated during the Hindu Lunisolar month Kartika (between mid-October and mid-November). One of the most popular festivals of Hinduism, Diwali symbolizes the spiritual “victory of light over darkness, good over evil, and knowledge over ignorance”. The festival...
What Is Avatar? An avatar (अवतार, avatāra), a concept in Hinduism that means “descent”, refers to the material appearance or incarnation of a deity on earth. The relative verb to “alight, to make one’s appearance” is sometimes used to refer to any guru or revered human being. The word avatar does not appear in the Vedic...
Devi Devī (देवी) is the Sanskrit word for “goddess“; the masculine form is Deva. Devi – the feminine form, and Deva – the masculine form, mean “heavenly, divine, anything of excellence”, and are also gender specific terms for a deity in Hinduism. The concept and reverence for goddesses appear in the Vedas, which...
God And Gender In Hinduism This article covers God and gender in Hindusim. The Gender of God in Hinduism is sometimes visualized as a male god such as Krishna, or female goddess such as Lakshmi, androgynous such as Ardhanarishvara (a composite of Siva or Shiva – male – and Parvati –...