THE LOTUS – TORU DUTT

The Lotus is from the collection of poetry, Ancient Ballads and Legends

Of Hindustan. The Poet personifies ‗Love‘, Love asks Flora, the Greek

Goddesses of Nature to provide a flower, a flower that has an undeniable ability

To be the Queen of all the flowers in the world. Among the flowers there has

Been a well-known, long-standing rivalry between ‗the Lily‘ and ‗the Rose‘.

Toru Dutt presents the idea that the Indian Lotus is the most beautiful of

All flowers. For an extended time, Lily and Rose had been fighting for the title

‗Queen of flowers.‘ Each flower with its own support from poets claimed the

Title. At this time, God of Love came to Goddess Flora asking for a flower,

Which would be the unchallenged queen of flowers. She wanted a flower, which

Was stately as the Lily and as delicious as the Rose.

Goddess Flora gave God of Love the lotus flower and resolved the long-

Standing quarrel between Lily and Rose. Great poets supported the flowers

Consistent with their wishes, and a few poets even raised the doubt that the lily

Was more beautiful than the rose. Lotus combines the redness of the rose with
The paleness of the lily. Goddess Flora created Lotus, which was both rose red

And lily-white.

One more thing to note is that the lotus is a flower of significance both to

The Indian and Hindu religions. We can understand Toru Dutt‘s affection for an

Indian flower and also she wanted to establish the superiority of the Hindu

Religion over other religions in the world. As Toru Dutt was mentioned and

Educated abroad, she always turned to mythology to determine her stand.