The Lotus

The lotus plays a very important part in daily Thai life. It is perhaps the country’s most common flower. The lotus can grow anywhere in the country if the land is low enough to be flooded. Lotus blooms are commonly found in ponds, swamps, small canals, roadside ditches or even in earthen jars, big or small, under the sun. Thailand is without doubt the home of the lotus.

Five kinds of lotus are mentioned in Thai literature; they come in five different colors: white, a shade of green, red, violet-blue and pink. The flower’s rich symbolism has embellished Thai literature since ancient times. The two significant aspects of this symbolism concern women and gods. Poets have often used its suggestive form to describe metaphorically feminine beauty, from the most obvious part of the body to the most unlikely an ideal girls ear, for example, has been compared to a lotus petal.

In the narrative poem Khun Chang Khun Phaen of the early Bangkok period, there is an scene in which the hero, Khun Phaen, invites his lady love, Nang Wan Thong, to enjoy the running stream.

The scene is recounted through the sensuous imagery of the symbolic lotus:

The cool breeze makes a ripple against the lotus blooms;
Some are still young closed buds, standing gracefully upright,
Others are in full bloom, scattering their pollen to the wind.
Swarms of humming bees embrace the flowers,
bathing in the pollen dust.