National Flower of India -- Lotus, Quick Facts. (2024)

National Flower ofIndia:

Quick Facts

National flower ofIndia: Indian Lotus

Scientific Name: NelumboNucifera

Kingdom: Plantae.

Family: Nelumbonaceae

National flower of any countryshows the geographical areas of the country. Lotus is the National flower ofIndia. It is also known as Padma in Sanskrit and has a very scared place in theIndian culture and History. The National flower of any country should reflectcountry’s culture, tradition and history. It also upholds the image of thecountry in the world. Lotus being the National flower of India occupies aunique place in the art and mythology of our ancient India. National flower of any country is a very important National Symbol.

Lotus also known as NelumboNucifera is a aquatic plant with wide leaves and flower are above water and theremaining parts of the plant are under the water. Lotus also known as Padma inSanskrit plays a very role in Indian religions like Hinduism, Buddhism Sikhismand Jainism. According to Indian religions Lotus symbolises purity of heart andmind. Even after growing in dirty and murky water Lotus stands for purity. Itis also regarded as symbol for many God and Goddess in Hinduism.

Scientific classification of Lotus

The scientific classification ofLotus:

Kingdom: Plantae

Subkingdom: Viridiplantae

Superdivision: Embryophyta

Division: Tracheophyta

Subdivision: Spermatophytina

Class: Magnoliopsida

Superorder: Proteanae

Order: Proteales

Family: Nelumbonaceae

Genus: Nelumbo

Species: Nelumbo nucifera

Classification and Distribution:Lotus belongs to Nelumbo genus andoften confused with water lilies of genus Nymphaea. Indian Lotus is distributedwidely in central and Northern India. Being the native of East Asia, the IndianLotus is widely seen India, Bangladesh, Myanmar and Sri Lanka. It is alsodistributed in northern and eastern Australia. Lotus is National flower ofIndia and also Vietnam. In Egypt also the Lotus flower is considered as sacredbecause they are considered as symbol of God.

Cultivation of National Flower of India-Lotus

Lotus requiresrich loamy soil. A part of the rhizome with at least one eye is planted inponds and lakes. The other methods of propagation are through seeds and buds.The seeds must be exposed to sun for at least 6 hours every day and thetemperature required for growing lotus is between 25-30^oC. April toSeptember is the growing season for the lotus. During winters the roots arefrozen and stored in a dry cool place.

It takesapproximately 10 days to make a dry field ready for growing lotus. First thefield is ploughed later manure is applied. The water level at the field is keptlow till the plant grows to certain height after that the water level isincreased. It takes two to three months for the stolen to be ready forharvesting.

The stolen is pulled out of water slowly by shaking in the water.After three months of harvesting one can see beautiful leaves and flowers ofthe lotus. Flowers are picked every two days ones in summer and every threedays ones in winter. The rhizome is ready to eat after eight months ofharvesting. The tasty and the starch rich rhizome can be easily dug out fromthe drained soil.

Uses of Lotus Plant

Every part ofthe lotus plant is very useful both for medicinal purpose and for economicpurpose. Based on the usage of lotus it is classified into three types ofnamelyrhizome lotus, seed lotus and flower lotus.

The rhizome is a very importantpart of Lotus. It is consumed as a vegetable in places like India, China andJapan. Rhizome is starch rich food which has a sweet tangy taste. The matureleaves are mostly used for packing and the Rhizome,and the leaf stalks are usedin soups, salads. It is rich in fibre, containsVitamins like B1, B2, B6, and C, essential minerals like potassium, manganese,phosphorous and copper.

The lotus seeds are also highlynutritious and are eaten as nuts and can also be consumed raw seeds. Lotus seeds are rich in Vitamins which includeB1, B2, B6 and Vitamin E. Lotus seed tea is consumed in Korea and lotus embryois consumed in China and Vietnam.

Lotus seed is used in various food forms likefermented wine, rice, makana or popcorn.Lotus leaf is also consumed in countries like China and Korea in theform of Lotus leaf tea. It is also used as a wrapping for rice or other eatingdishes in many Southeast Asian cuisine. Some of the parts of Lotus rhizome,petals and leaves can be eaten raw but there are chances of parasite attack onthe body hence it is recommended to cook before eating.

Different parts of the Lotus plantis used for curing many diseases. Rhizome, leaves and the seeds are used asfolk medicine, in Ayurveda, Chinese traditional medicine and the leaves areused to cure diseases like Hematemesis, epitaxis and Hematuria and the flowersare used for curing Diarrhoea, Cholera, Fever and Hyperdipisia. The lotus rootis to treat infections like diarrhoea and small pox. The lotus seed is very goodfor cleaning kidney and spleen.

Lotus flower is also used inwastewater treatment. As lotus flower is able to grow in various waterconditions it helps to remove polluting compounds and heavy metals present inthe water. The big leaves of the Lotus covers the top layer of water there byit reduces sunlight to reach deep in water and thus reduces the growth of algaein water.

Cultural and Religious significance of Lotus

Since ancienttimes Lotus is considered as a sacred flower and it is a symbol of purity,immortality and divinity for most of the Indian Religions. It is considered asseat of Goddess Saraswati according to Hinduism.

Even many thirtankaras andBuddhists are seated on the Lotus flower according to Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism further states that lotus flower even after growing on the murky andmuddy water comes out as pure in the same way human beings should come out fromall the detachments and physical desire and stand pure in their body, mind andspeech. Even many other religions have great respect to Lotus flower.

Reasons for choosing Lotus as National Flower of India

Lotus flowerrepresents divinity, purity, fruitfulness and immortality. Lotus flower has avery old presence since ancient India. According to Bhagvad Gita and Vedas Justas how Lotus remains pure and untouched even after growing in the muddy watersin the same way human beings should rise and stand away from all the world attachments.

It also holds additional significance for Hindus as it isconsidered as seat for Goddess Saraswati who is the Goddess for learning and isoften used in many religious practices. Because of the presence since ancientperiod and also because of the noble meanings and cultural significance Lotuswas considered as National flower of India.

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