The Lotus Symbol in Indian Literature and Art

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The Lotus Symbol in Indian Literature and Art attempts to answer some of the queries regarding the symbolical meanings of the lotus flower. The quest for finding the root cause of this preference starts from the earliest books of the Indian literature, viz., the Vedas. To the Vedic people the lotus flower was a supernatural object and to give their supposition an aura of mystery myths were woven regarding its origin. The lotus flower came to be connected with Gods and Goddesses, with the theory of creation and in this process different symbolical meanings were attached to it. This trend pursues in the Buddhist art also. The Buddha is always shown as sitting or standing on an open lotus, a direct legacy from the Vedic period. But in the Buddhist period lotus plant with its flowers and leaves became predominantly a symbol of non-attachment to the worldly things.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Santona Basu

Santona Basu (1938) did her post-graduation in Sanskrit from Agra University in 1959. Her second rank in the university got her UGC fellowship. This was followed by a fellowship from the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), which enabled her to study Indology at Goettingen University from 1961-1964. She did her Ph.D. from Agra University in 1974. The same year she with her family again left India for Germany. This time she worked in the Bengali department of the Voice of Germany (Deutsche Welle), Cologne from 1974-1985 and as police and court interpreter for Bengali and German in Bonn as a freelance. Besides English, Bengali and Hindi she is well versed in German language. To her credit she has multi-lingual publications. She has written articles in English and Bengali, translated Hindi and Bengali short stories into German and German short stories into Bengali.