How Lakshmi Rose from the Ocean: The Story of Samudra Manthan and the Lotus

Every Diwali we invite Goddess Lakshmi into our homes. The story of how she came into the world is one of the oldest and most loved in Indian tradition: the Samudra Manthan, the churning of the ocean of milk.

The great churning

The devas and the asuras, wishing to obtain amrit, the nectar of immortality, agreed to churn the cosmic ocean together. They used Mount Mandara as the churning rod and the serpent Vasuki as the rope, while Lord Vishnu, in the form of a tortoise, held the mountain steady on his back. The work was long and hard, and many wonders rose from the ocean one after another.

Lakshmi appears

Among them rose Lakshmi, radiant, seated on a lotus. As the tradition is told, she chose Lord Vishnu and garlanded him, and she has been devotedly associated with him ever since.