Indian Art: A History of Indian Art from the Earliest Times up to the Third Century A.D. c17.27

c17.27

With the cult of Padmāśrī was associated the ancient Taḍāga Mahā, i.e. the Worship of the Lotus-pond, Padmavana (Nalinī, Pushkariṇī) in which Lakshmī was said to have her abode with her gamboling elephants. The cult of the lotus itself was elaborated in several forms having close links with Lakshmī, e.g. in the Padmavaravedikā, the lotus-decorated railing round Stūpas, Padmamālā, the heavy lotus garland comprising one thousand flowers offered to a Stūpa or Deity. The motif of the Puṇḍarīka-kīḍā became popular as part of water sports. (Ante, pp. 47, 81-2, 135, 184, 259-60).