His paintings are everywhere; in majority of Hindu homes. Millions of Hindus bow before his paintings daily. The popular images of Goddess Lakshmi and Goddess Saraswati as we see today were first painted by Raja Ravi Varma in the 18th Century. Majority of the paintings of Goddess Lakshmi today we have are inspired by the paintings of Raja Ravi Varma (29 April 1848 – 2 October 1906) from the princely state of Kilimanoor (presently in Kerala). The Hindu reports Many of us have seen the oleograph of Lakshmi and Saraswati. Many of these had fabric, beads and sequins to embellish them and many were worshipped across the country. As Chawla says, these were done at a time of intense nationalist fervour. “The two goddesses, Lakshmi and Saraswati, painted much later, in 1896, are iconic in their visualization. The religious texts and the oral tradition that formed the basis for these paintings do not belong to any particular region of India as the entire country has always absorb