"Sri-Laksmi is today one of the most popular and widely venerated deities of the Hindu pantheon. Her auspicious nature and her reputation for granting fertility, luck, wealth, and well-being seem to attract devotion in every Indian village. All of India’s back country is the dominion of Lakshmi, the goddess of the lotus...she accompanies every mile traveled through central India, every visit to a temple...Her likenesses are omnipresent on the walls, pillars, lintels and niches of sanctuaries, regardless of the deity of their specific dedication."