Lakshmi is the Hindu Goddess of beauty and wealth.  She is the embodiment of grace, charm and purity, and represents generosity, prosperity and material success.  She has beautiful golden skin and four arms.  Her hands drip coins (as my amazing teacher Yogeswari says) and hold lotus blossoms.  She is a mother goddess (meaning you can add the prefix Mata, which means mother, to her name) and the lotus blossoms she holds indicate her fertility and beauty.

In Hindu mythology, Lakshmi took refuge in a sea of milk when the Gods and Goddesses were exiled.  She was reborn again during the churning of the ocean and all of the Gods immediately fell in love with her when they laid eyes on her enrapturing beauty.  Her hand in marriage was given to Vishnu, the great sustainer, and as his wife, she is his female counterpoint.