Neel kamal (Blue waterlily) in Indian culture

From Biodiversity of India
Jump to: navigation, search

Neel kamal (blue waterlily) in Indian culture

(Nymphaea stellata)
Discussed species Nymphaea nouchali (Nymphaea stellata), Blue waterlily, Star lotus, नील कमल Neel Kamal (Hindi), कृष्ण कमल Krishna Kamal (Sanskrit), அள்ளி தாமரை Alli-tamarai (Tamil)
Description This aquatic plant is native to the Indian subcontinent. The plant has been long valued as a garden flower in Thailand and Myanmar to decorate ponds and gardens. It appears in many mythological stories in India. (Wikipedia)
Goddess Durga depicted with a water lily in her left hand

The Blue waterlily is native to the Indian subcontinent. This is evidenced from the myriad mythological stories associated with this beautiful aquatic flower in several Asian countries. In Myanmar and Thailand, the plant has been used since ancient times to decorate ponds and pools [1]. The flower is the National Flower of Bangladesh[1] and Sri Lanka[2]. In Buddhist mythology in Sri Lanka, it is claimed that this flower was one of the 108 auspicious signs found on Prince Siddhartha's footprint. It is said that when Buddha died, lotus flowers blossomed everywhere he had walked in his lifetime[1]. In India, several mythological stories are associated with this flower.

The color of this flower - blue - is likened to that of Lord Krishna. This flower is considered a favorite of Goddess Durga and Draupadi [3]. The following story about this flower is quite interesting:

It is believed that in Ramayana, before the final battle of Lord Ram with Ravana, Lord Ram went to seek the blessings of Goddess Durga. He learnt that Goddess Durga would be happy if he offered a gift of 100 blue water lilies to her. So, Lord Ram roamed the earth trying to find a 100 neel kamals but he managed to find only 99. He then offered one of his eyes - which resembled a neel kamal - to the Goddess. Goddess Durga was pleased and she gave her blessings to Lord Ram, along with his eye. [4][5]

Even to this day, during Durga Puja, these blue water lilies are offered to Goddess Durga[6]. These flowers are also considered sacred for Lord Ganesha (Maha Ganapati)[7]

References

  1. ^ a b c Wikipedia entry Accessed: 30 Dec, 2011
  2. ^ Government of Sri Lanka Accessed: 30 Dec, 2011
  3. ^ Indian rituals Accessed: 30 Dec, 2011
  4. ^ ENVIS Eco-heritage entry on Blue water lily Accessed: 30 Dec, 2011
  5. ^ Flowers of India Accessed: 30 Dec, 2011
  6. ^ Exotic water lilies a must offering for the Goddess Times of India. Accessed: 30 Dec, 2011
  7. ^ Mahaganapati Accessed: 30 Dec, 2011

Additional media

A scene from the television show Ramayan, where Hanuman gets a bouquet of 1000 Neel kamal for Lord Ram

References

  1. ^ a b c Wikipedia entry Accessed: 30 Dec, 2011
  2. ^ Government of Sri Lanka Accessed: 30 Dec, 2011
  3. ^ Indian rituals Accessed: 30 Dec, 2011
  4. ^ ENVIS Eco-heritage entry on Blue water lily Accessed: 30 Dec, 2011
  5. ^ Flowers of India Accessed: 30 Dec, 2011
  6. ^ Exotic water lilies a must offering for the Goddess Times of India. Accessed: 30 Dec, 2011
  7. ^ Mahaganapati Accessed: 30 Dec, 2011

Comments

blog comments powered by Disqus

More notes like this

Page titleAuthorTopicSpecies group, if anyState discussed, if any
Wolf in Indian cultureGaurav MogheMythology and religionMammalsPan-India
Why the Ketaki flower was cursed by godsGaurav MogheMythological storiesPlantsPan-India
Why Lord Ganesha has a mouse as his vehicleGaurav MogheMythology and religionMammalsPan-India
Warli tribe and their tribal artGaurav MogheTribal mythologyNot notedPan-India
Varaha (boar) avatar of VishnuGaurav MogheMythological storiesMammalsPan-India
Uses of Neem plantWikipediaUses of biodiversityPlantsPan-India
Uses of Henna plantGaurav MogheUses of biodiversityPlantsPan-India
Tulsi plant in Indian cultureGaurav MogheMythology and religionPlantsPan-India
The Soliga tribe of Karnataka and its intimate relationship with natureGaurav MogheIndigenous practicesNot notedKarnataka
The Asiatic Lion in Indian cultureGaurav MogheMythology and religionMammalsPan-India
Serpents in Indian cultureGaurav MogheMythology and religionReptilesPan-India
Satyanarayan pooja and biodiversityGaurav MogheMythology and religionMammalsPan-India
Samudra manthan and the Kurma avatar of VishnuWikipediaMythological storiesNot notedPan-India
Salman Khan and the sacred Blackbuck episodeGaurav MogheIndigenous practicesMammalsRajasthan
Reference libraryCollaborativeReference LibraryNot notedPan-India
… further results

Only 15 articles are shown in this list. A total of 64 articles in the database as of this moment. For the complete list, click on further results on the bottom right corner of the above table.


Semantic tags

Title Neel kamal (Blue waterlily) in Indian culture Article is on this general topic Mythological stories Author Gaurav Moghe
Specific location(s) where study was conducted Not noted General region where study was conducted Not noted State where study was conducted Pan-India
Institutional affiliation Not noted Institution located at Not noted Institution based around Not noted
Species Group Plants User ID User:Gauravm Page creation date 2011/12/30

Share this page: