An ancient Egyptian belief said the lotus flower gave life to the Pharaonic Egypt. At the beginning of the world, on the dark waters, a lotus flower floated with closed petals. The petals opened and out of the flower the Sun God Ra raised, creating the world. In the evening, the Sun went to sleep in the lotus flower, just to rise again next day.

Many Mediterranean and Asian civilizations took the symbol of the lotus to India, Vietnam, China, Laos, Cambodia and Thailand. Lotus is the throne on which Buddha seats, the luck bringing collar offered in Ceylon or the passing time in Tibet, where Dalai Lama is called "The Master of the White Lotus". The lotus can be the promise of a successful exam or marriage. In Buddhism, people are compared to lotus flowers, raising from the mud of the deep waters, and flower's stages (bud, blossom, seed) represent the past, present and future.

A Buddhist sutra says that lotus combines perfume, purity, grace and beauty.

Lotuses belong to the family Nymphaceae and the genus Nymphaea. The white Egyptian lotus, N. lotus, is the real lotus from the Egyptian mythology. Relict lotus populations can be found in thermal springs in Europe, like in Romania. There is also a blue Egyptian lotus, N. caerulea, and an Indian blue lotus, N. stellata, the national flower of Ceylon. The Indian red lotus, N. rubra, is common in southeastern Asia. The yellow lotus, N. citrina, is common in tropical Africa.

Lotuses have huge rhizomes stuck into the mud, of the thickness of a human arm. The stems going upward to the water's surface are crossed by various aerial canals, being light and resistant. The lotus fruit resembles an Apollo spacial capsule and it is spongy and verrucous, green when immature. When mature, it does not separate from the stem; the peduncle bends, bringing it to the bottom of the waters.

At this moment, through small holes, the seeds get out and spread. Each lotus fruit can produce over 2,000 seeds which, when kept in a dry place, can keep their germinative power for over a century.

The Chinese folk medicine uses lotus seeds, rhizomes, roots and flowers against many diseases. The seeds are rich in starch and are used as garnishment for roasted chicken, as fortifier, and, mixed in rice soup, can combat diarrhea, while combined with liquorice is effective against kidney diseases. The receptacles of the seeds are used against boils.

Wine macerated flowers are used for treating internal contusions, and lotus flower infusion, administered at 6 o'clock in the evening and before sleeping, chases away bad dreams, conferring a deep and relaxing sleep.

The rhizomes are employed against cystitis and, in Japan, they are used for making a fortifying infusion against lungs conditions.