Lakshmi Mala
ലക്ഷ്മി മാല
The goddess's coins, in heavy garland — a household's wealth made visible.
Lakshmi Mala is similar in form to the Kasumala — a garland of gold coins, each imprinted with the figure of the goddess Lakshmi. The distinction in Balakrishna's range is one of weight: the Lakshmi Mala is the heavier ceremonial form, often used in puja ceremonies and as part of the household's seventh-day post-wedding rituals.
Lakshmi is the goddess of wealth, fortune and household prosperity. To wear, or to place a Lakshmi Mala on the family altar, is to invite her presence. In many traditional Kerala households, the Lakshmi Mala is brought out for Vishu kani, for Diwali, and for the Lakshmi puja that follows the wedding.
The coins are die-struck like the Kasumala, but in larger sizes — sometimes up to two grams per coin. The total weight of a Lakshmi Mala can run to seventy-five grams or more. The links are heavier, the chain double-strung for security, and the centre often carries a slightly larger coin with a fuller relief.
The Lakshmi Mala is not a daily-wear piece. It sits in the family vault and is brought out for the moments that warrant it — the wedding altar, the Lakshmi puja, the seventh-month sumangali function, and the first Vishu kani.
Our 108-coin Lakshmi Mala is hand-numbered and recorded in the master vault register. Each one we have made since 1978 carries a number stamped beside the BIS hallmark, traceable in the register to the karigar and the original buyer.