"[2] Or she "has dry shriveled up body, sunken cheeks, thick lips, and beady eyes and that she rides a donkey.
In Hindu households, especially in northern India, hanging a lime and seven green chilies at the doorstep of one's house is viewed as a ritual to either ward off or acknowledge Alakshmi.
The former version of the belief insists that the sourness of the lime and the pungency of the chilies combined creates a smell that even Alakshmi cannot tolerate.
Others believe that Alakshmi, who is pleased with sour and spicy offerings, will receive her share standing at the door, while Lakshmi, her sister who prefers more palatable foods is free to enter the home in the meanwhile.
There are also those who share the belief that even though she brings inauspiciousness, Alakshmi, being a form of the great Mahadevi, exists to goad people into Lakshmi-attracting actions.