What attributes of the lotus flower make it symbolic?
The lotus symbolises purity in impure surroundings, for a very interesting reason. Lotus plants have a natural self-cleaning property, which means that even though they tend to grow in wet, muddy places, their leaves appear almost magically spotless and pristine. This is because the structure of the leaves at a microscopic level is too rough for water or dirt to stay there – it just rolls off like a bead of mercury. This is called the lotus effect or superhydrophobicity. An interesting aside – material scientists are learning from the lotus effect to create self-cleaning glass, paint and fabric. I love that nature is so brilliantly engineered and we’re only just catching on 🙂 ***** I originally posted this answer to another question [not a duplicate], but it seems relevant here too.
