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Lotus flowers (Nelumbo nucifera) are aquatic plants that commonly are confused with water lilies. Unlike lilies, which feature large, leafy pads that float on the water's surface, lotus flowers ...
The lotus is often confused with the true water lilies of the genus Nymphaea, in particular N. caerulea, the "blue lotus." In fact, several older systems, such as the Bentham & Hooker system (which is widely used in the Indian subcontinent), refer to the lotus by its old synonym, Nymphaea nelumbo. [citation needed]
Nelumbo nucifera Gaertn. – sacred or Indian lotus, also known as the Rose of India and the sacred water lily of Hinduism and Buddhism. [20] It is the national flower of India and Vietnam . Its roots and seeds are also used widely in cooking in East Asia, South Asia and Southeast Asia.
Aristocrats and religious figures wore masks and/or headdresses during celebratory events that had water lilies and/or water lily symbols to appear like gods. [35] There is also evidence that water lilies were used as cultural entheogenic. Some interpretations of ritual scenes drawn out by the Maya have been blood being extracted from ...
The Ancient Egyptians used the water lilies of the Nile as cultural symbols. [67] Since 1580 it has become popular in the English language to apply the Latin word lotus, originally used to designate a tree, to the water lilies growing in Egypt, and much later the word was used to translate words in Indian texts. [68]
In addition, these meanings are alluded to in older pictures, songs and writings. New symbols have also arisen: one of the most known in the United Kingdom is the red poppy as a symbol of remembrance of the fallen in war.
Nefertem represented both the first sunlight and the delightful smell of the Egyptian blue lotus flower, having arisen from the primal waters within an Egyptian blue water-lily, Nymphaea caerulea. Some of the titles of Nefertem were "He Who is Beautiful" and "Water-Lily of the Sun", and a version of the Book of the Dead says:
The boy Buddha appearing within a lotus. Crimson and gilded wood, Trần-Hồ dynasty, Vietnam, 14th–15th century. In the Aṅguttara Nikāya, the Buddha compares himself to a lotus (padma in Sanskrit, in Pali, paduma), [3] saying that the lotus flower rises from the muddy water unstained, as he rises from this world, free from the defilements taught in the specific sutta.