2020-08-20 Thu

Known as Dewi Sri, this goddess of rice and fertility is equivalent to the Indian Goddess Lakshmi. Sri is the Goddess of the earth and the Mother of the Javanese people. In the Javanese harvest ceremonies, she is worshiped as the Rice Mother and as the Rice Bride. She is widely venerated as the great benefactress of the people who protect them against hunger, even in the semi-Islamized regions. Sri brings the rain when the monsoon arrives and appears in dreams to give good advice. Dewi Sri is always depicted as a youthful, beautiful, slim yet curvaceous woman, with stylized facial features essentially a woman at the height of her femininity and fertility. In Javanese iconography, usually, Dewi Sri is depicted wearing green, white, or golden yellow clothes with regal jewelry attire, similar to those of Hindu goddesses, and holding rice plants with full rice grains in one of her hands. 10 Indonesian rupiah banknote issued in the year 1952 depicts the statue of Dewi Shree on the left flan in the obverse along with an intricate floral design. The reverse depicts a knot of infinity in the center flanked by to mystical creatures surrounded by a floral design. Image Courtesy: Colnect.com