A lotus mandala is a mandala built around a single large lotus, fully open at the centre of the design. The lotus is one of the most important symbols in Buddhist art: it grows up through water and flowers clean above it, and in an early discourse the Buddha compares himself to a lotus that rises above the water unstained, as he lives in the world unstained by it.
How it is laid out
- The central lotus, seen from directly above. Its petals are often eight, matching the eight directions in which a mandala's figures are usually arranged.
- The heart of the flower may hold a seed syllable, a symbol or a small figure; in other designs the flower itself is the whole subject.
- Rings of petals open outward in layers, followed by bands of patterning.
- The frame: some designs keep the full structure of a classic mandala, with a square palace, four gateways and rings of vajras and flames (our guide to mandalas explains each part); others are simply rings inside a square.
The lotus in a mandala
The lotus appears everywhere in thangka painting. It is one of the eight auspicious symbols, and almost every Buddha and deity sits or stands on a lotus seat. In a classic deity mandala the whole palace rests on a great lotus, painted as a ring of petals inside the ring of vajras, and the central deity sits on a lotus at its heart.
The idea can be taken literally. A 12th-century copper-alloy sculpture from north-eastern India, now in the Rubin Museum, is a mandala in the shape of a lotus: its hinged petals close into a bud and open to show the deity Hevajra and his consort at the centre, with eight dancing goddesses on the petals. In the Hindu tradition, the Shri Yantra sets two rings of lotus petals around its triangles.
A symbol, not a ritual
A lotus mandala of this kind is not the mandala of a particular deity or practice, and no initiation or ritual belongs to it. It is a design built around the symbol, painted for contemplation and display. Its meaning is the lotus's own: purity, and awakening that rises out of the world without being stained by it.
In a painting
Look for petals of even size and spacing all the way round, smooth shading from the base of each petal to its tip, and rings that are truly concentric. Fine, even patterning in the outer bands shows the painter's patience. At a glance, a lotus mandala is the one with a large open flower where other mandalas have a palace or a deity.
