Flowers are quite important in Indian culture. They are needed in the temples to adorn the gods, as well as for other decorations, be it for a wedding or for any other function.

If you walk through a street which is close to a temple, you will see lots of flower vendors. Since it’s said that there are up to thirty-three million gods in Hinduism (isn’t that amazing?!), India clearly needs lots of flowers. Of course, many people don’t actually know all the millions of gods (including me), but luckily there aren’t many restrictions on what flowers can be used to adorn any given god!

Some of the flowers very commonly used in temples are the Hibiscus, Lotus, Jasmine, Rose, and Tulsi. As you can see in the photo above, there are tons of different colorful flowers to be used.

Here’s an interesting aside, while we’re on a floral topic: did you know that in Victorian times, certain flowers had specific meanings because the flower selection was limited and people used more symbols and gestures to communicate than words? Today, with so many flower choices, there are fewer rules (apart from things like roses, for example), and it’s the sentiment that gives the gift its meaning.

Personally, I love flowers and especially enjoy receiving them. Don’t all women, though? I try to have a vase full of different flowers, mainly lilies, in my living room as often as possible. Looking at it makes me feel happy and cheerful —  basically it makes my day!

You can read more about Victorian-era flower meanings here.