Carved Teak Lotus Flower on metal stand, India, circa 1900.

Further readings and sources:

1. The lotus is a native flower of both India and Vietnam. It’s considered a most sacred flower and holds celestial as well symbolic meaning. Ancient texts assign the lotus flower with symbolic spiritual enlightenment and rebirth. The lotus flower has an astonishing will to live: A lotus seed is able to withstand thousands of years without water to germinate centuries later. It represents the incredible daily cycle of life, death, and a sudden immaculate rebirth which can only be described as spiritual.  See: “The Secret Meaning of the Lotus Flower. Nothing is more spiritual than the lotus—it experiences immaculate conception every single day.”, Katie Robinson, April 28, 2017, Town and Country Magazine. ↩