Everything You Need to Know About Lakshmi
She’s beautiful
In 2018, I visited Hampi, a UNESCO-recognized world heritage site in India.
Hampi is a small temple town in Karnataka, sitting on the banks of the Tungabhadra River.
While I have lots to say about Hampi, that’s a story for another day.
This one is about someone special I met during my lovely Hampi visit.
Her name is Lakshmi, and I haven’t been able to get her out of my mind ever since.
Let me tell you all about my meeting with her.
Who is Lakshmi?
Lakshmi is an extremely friendly temple elephant one can meet inside the Virupaksha Temple of Hampi.
In India, elephants are believed to be symbolism of Lord Ganesha, the Hindu god of wisdom and beginnings, who is identified by his elephant head and a human body.
It is very common for large temples in India to have an elephant in them.
Want to know something interesting about Lakshmi?
Lakshmi is a star — She blesses visitors by touching their heads with her trunk.
There is a catch though, her blessings are worth 10 Indian Rupees, and she knows this very well.
I accidentally dropped the Rupee 10 bill while handing it over to Lakshmi, and she didn’t bless me until I picked up the money and tucked it safely in her trunk.
You can offer her some bananas too (although a banana won’t get you blessings in return).
Be careful; monkeys have invaded the temple complex too, and they would do anything to snatch away the fruit from you.
Devotees flock in huge numbers daily to catch a glimpse and seek Lakshmi’s blessings.
She is, to date, the only and probably the sweetest elephant I have personally met.
That was the first time I discovered that I am an elephant person.
Something I didn’t like
It wasn’t very pleasant to see that her life was confined to the four walls of the temple.
I wish I had spotted her in her natural habitat.
Seeing her live a life of isolation made my heart cry.
While she’s well-fed, taken for walks, given daily baths in the river and is taken extreme care of, she still deserves to be out there in the wild with her buddies.
My thoughts on the whole episode
On one side, you see happy devotees seeking blessings; on the other, you feel sad about Lakshmi’s captivity.
At first, I felt very blessed and overjoyed to be in her presence, but shortly after, I felt guilty.
I left the temple with mixed emotions in my belly.
I kept hoping and praying that she was happy there.
