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From Vedic Sri to soap wrappers: How images of Goddess Lakshmi entered Indian homes

While images of Goddess Lakshmi are ubiquitous in Indian homes and marketplaces, their journey spans ancient scriptures, the rise of religious printing, and the expansion of popular commercial art.

Goddess Lakshmi on popular commercial art (Edited by Abhishek Mitra)

5 min read New Delhi Nov 5, 2026 01:07 PM IST First published on: Nov 5, 2026 at 01:07 PM IST

No other time of year is Goddess Lakshmi more visible than during Diwali. However, her image appears everywhere, from prayer rooms and calendars to firecracker boxes, soap wrappers, and matchboxes around the year as a familiar presence in Indian homes.

Her journey from the Vedic idea of Sri to mass-produced prints and commercial imagery traces the changing relationship between religion, art, and popular culture, and the many ways the goddess of wealth and prosperity has come to occupy everyday life.

“India’s majestic confluence of material and…