They write:The book has an entire section devoted to India — ‘India Awakened’ which looks at India through, thankfully, the Kalam lens. For Hindus, Deepavali is the day Lakshmi, the Goddess of wealth, emerges from the ocean of milk during the churn. Right from Sangam literature, Thiru (Sri) residing in the chest of Vishnu was sang by Tamil poets. When Hindu seers saw Lakshmi in wealth, it was not just economic prosperity they saw. Dr. C. Sivaramamurti (1909-1983), an authority on Hindu Divine forms, in his monumental work Sri Lakshmi in Indian Art and Thought (1982), points out that the famous Lajja Gowri may actually be Sri Lakshmi.

Source: The Hindu November 11, 2023 14:14 UTC