Kamala, a common name in India, is associated with several deities and is a symbol of wisdom

Relief of the Hindu goddess Lakshmi from a temple in India. Godong/Universal Images Group via Getty Images by Archana Venkatesan, University of California, Davis Ever since Vice President Kamala Harris became a presence on the national scene, her name – a common one for women in India – has attracted a lot of attention, most specifically for its pronunciation. The three-syllable word should be pronounced “Come-a-laa” (Kamalā), with the final long “a” signaling a feminine noun in Sanskrit. In the United States, it is often enunciated with stresses placed on the first or second syllable. However, the pronunciation of “Kamala” is the least interesting thing about this lovely name, which is only one of many words in Sanskrit for the radiant, fragrant, large-petaled pink lotus, or Nelumbo nucifera , that is ubiquitous in the Indian subcontinent. As a scholar of South Indian religions, I’d like to explain the deep symbolism and the many meanings of the kamala, or lotus, which are shared by different faith traditions in the subcontinent. The ‘kamala’ in Indian literature In many Indian love poems, the wide, shapely eyes of beautiful women are compared to the lotus, while in devotional poetry it is the God’s eyes...