Namagiri Thayar (Tamil: நாமகிரித்தாயார்) is a form of Hindu goddess Lakshmi worshipped in Namagiri, a city also called Namakkal, in modern Tamil Nadu, India. In Hindu mythology she is the consort of MahaVishnu.
Namagiri and Srinivasa Ramanujan
Srinivasa Ramanujan credits his mathematical findings to the Goddess of Namagiri. According to Ramanujan, she appeared in his visions, proposing him mathematical formulae, which Ramanujan would then have to verify. One such event was described by him as follows:
"While asleep, I had an unusual experience. There was a red screen formed by flowing blood, as it were. I was observing it. Suddenly a hand began to write on the screen. I became all attention. That hand wrote a number of elliptic integrals. They stuck to my mind. As soon as I woke up, I committed them to writing."
Furthermore, Ramanujan's mother received permission from Namagiri Amman for Ramanujan to go to England in a dream.