For more like this, visit About this design: Native to Tropical Asia and Queensland, Australia, the lotus plant is commonly cultivated in water gardens. The lotus is national flower of India and Vietnam. A common misconception is referring to the lotus as a waterlily (Nymphaea), an entirely different plant as can be seen from the center of the flower, which clearly lacks the structure that goes on to form the distinctive circular seed pod. From ancient times the lotus has been a divine symbol in Asian traditions representing the virtues of purity and non-attachment. Hindus revere it with the divinities Vishnu and Lakshmi often portrayed on a pink lotus in iconography. Often used as an example of divine beauty, Vishnu is often described as the 'Lotus-Eyed One'. In the classical written and oral literature of many Asian cultures the lotus is present in figurative form, representing elegance, beauty, perfection, purity and grace, being often used in poems and songs as an allegory for ideal feminine attributes.