Laxmi Poojan

Lakshmi Puja is a Hindu religious observance performed on the third day of Diwali (Amavasya). During this period, people decorate their homes and exteriors with small oil lamps/candles and worship Goddess Lakshmi in order to receive prosperity and well being for their families and businesses.

According to legend, the Goddess Lakshmi, believed to be the goddess of wealth, visits all her devotees and bestows gifts and blessings to all of them. To welcome the Goddess the devotee cleans his/her house, decorates it with finery and lights and prepares sweet meats and delicacies to offer to this "mother of wealth". Supposedly, the happier she is with the visit, the more she blesses the family with health and wealth.

The day of Lakshmi-Puja falls on the dark night of Amavasya. The joyous sounds of bells and drums float in the air from the temples as worshipers invoke Goddess Lakshmi in a wondrous, holy,and sincere call to the Mother Goddess. Suddenly, that impenetrable darkness is pierced by innumerable rays of light for just a moment and in the next moment a blaze of light descends down to earth from heaven as golden-footed Deep-Lakshmi alights on earth in all her celestial glory amidst chantings of Vedic hymns.