Miniature, c. 1780

Gajalakshmi (Sanskrit: गजलक्ष्मी, romanized: Gajalakṣmī, lit. 'Elephant Lakshmi'), also spelt as Gajalaxmi, is one of the most significant Ashtalakshmi aspects of the Hindu goddess of prosperity, Lakshmi.[1]

Mythology

In Hindu mythology, Gajalakshmi is regarded to have restored the wealth and power lost by Indra when she rose from the Samudra Manthana, the churning of the ocean.[2] She is the form of the goddess who stands for animal wealth, as well as other symbols of wealth that represent strength.[3]

Iconography

In a sixth century BCE sculpture, the goddess is depicted holding a lotus in her left hand and a lotus cornucopia in her right hand. There are two lions at her feet, two elephants bathing her with life giving waters, and two female attendants to her left and right side holding flywhisks.[4]

Depictions

An image is found from the 2nd century BCE, possibly in Buddhist contexts,[5] and appears on the railings from the Buddhist site of Bharhut, from 125-100 BCE. It appears on a 1st-century BCE coin of Azilises, and a 3rd-century CE coin from Kausambi.

A depiction of Gajalakshmi seated on a lotus is found in Cave 14 at Ellora.[6]

Temples in Odisha in the classic local Kalinga architecture style very often have a figure of Gajalakshmi in lalitasana as their lalatabimba or central protective image over the doorway to a temple or the sanctuary. One of the tympana at the Temple of Bantãy Srĕi in Siem Reap, Cambodia, has a beautifully sculptured image of the Goddess Gajalakshmi in pink sandstone. Though over a thousand years old, this tympanum is in almost as good a state as it must been when created.

Gajalakshmi is worshipped in many places in Goa and Konkan as a fertility goddess, mostly under the names Gajantlakshmi, Gajalakshmi, Kelbai or Bhauka devi, by various Konkani communities as their tutelary deity.[7]

According to Timothy Taylor, there might be a connection between the female deity with elephants portrayed on the Gundestrup cauldron and Gajalakshmi.[8]

Citations

  1. ↑ www.wisdomlib.org (22 November 2015). "Gajalakshmi, Gajalakṣmī, Gaja-lakshmi: 4 definitions". www.wisdomlib.org. Retrieved 29 September 2022.
  2. ↑ www.wisdomlib.org (22 November 2015). "Gajalakshmi, Gajalakṣmī, Gaja-lakshmi: 4 definitions". www.wisdomlib.org. Retrieved 29 September 2022.
  3. ↑ Jackson, Frances Kozlowski and Chris (August 2013). Driven by the Divine. Balboa Press. p. 88. ISBN 978-1-4525-7892-7.
  4. ↑ "Gaja Lakshmi, Goddess of Fortune 6th century". www.metmuseum.org. Retrieved 4 November 2022.
  5. ↑ Coomaraswamy, Ananda, Elements of Buddhist Iconography, Harvard University Press, p. 22, 1935, online text
  6. ↑ NAIR, G. RAVINDRAN (8 September 2017). Snake Worship in India. Publications Division Ministry of Information & Broadcasting. ISBN 9788123025681.
  7. ↑ "Gajalaxhmi: The goddess of Rain". No. Buzz. Navhind times. 7 August 2014. Retrieved 30 May 2016.
  8. ↑ Taylor, Timothy (1992), “The Gundestrup cauldron”, Scientific American, 266: 84-89. ISSN 0036-8733

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Gaja Lakshmi.
  • Dictionary of Hindu Lore and Legend (ISBN 0-500-51088-1) by Anna Dallapiccola
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