Patralatā

patralatā, decorative motif in Indian art, consisting of a lotus rhizome (underground plant stem). A cosmology that identifies water as the source of all life had a great influence on early Indian art, and, of its visual symbols, the lotus is the most important and has been a dominant motif in Indian decoration from the earliest times.

The patralatā, with flowers issuing from a central undulating stem, is found carved on monuments at Bhārhut (2nd century bc) and Sānchi (1st century bc). Relatively naturalistic in the earlier monuments, the motif was progressively stylized, finally culminating in rich, foamlike foliated scrolls that have little resemblance to the lotus plant. The patralatā also appears in the Islāmic art of India, in which it is assimilated to the arabesque motif.