Canto 8 of the ??r??mad Bh??gavata Pur?????a describes the emergence of the Goddess Lak???mi as a youth of exquisite beauty from the churning of the ocean of milk. So magnificent was her beauty that it captivated the Gods, and as soon as She emerged from the water, Indra, the King of the heavens brought a opulent ??sanam for the Goddess of fortune to be seated upon. All the rivers of sacred water, such as the Ga???g?? and Yamun??, personified themselves, and brought pure water in golden lo???as to lustrate the mother Lak???m??. The great sages then performed an abhi???eka for the goddess in accordance with Vedic prescriptions. Thereafter, the a??????adiggaja (the eight great elephants that guard the eight directions) carried water jugs full of water from the Ga???ga and lustrated the goddess to the accompaniment of Vedic mantras being chanted by learned br??hma???as. As She was being bathed, She stood with a lotus flower in her hand, and appeared auspicious and beautiful.
Mother Goddess of the Three Realms.
The Vietnamese tradition of worshipping Mother Goddesses has been recognised as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO, and so this collaborative project — curated…