This wooden lotus flower is a meticulous reproduction of the ceiling decorations often found in Thai temples. The roof of a traditional Thai temple is very steeply pitched and below it a flat coffered ceiling is often suspended. The flat ceiling has two functions - it acts as a heat barrier and is a surface for decoration, typically red lacquer and golden lotus flowers. In humbler temples, the flowers are painted on. In richer temples, they are elaborately carved and coated in gold leaf and glass mirror. Either way, their purpose is to draw the eye of the worshiper upward, toward heaven. The lotus flower has been a symbol of spiritual purity and enlightenment since the time of the Buddha. According to a Zen verse, “may we exist in muddy water with purity, like a lotus." The lotus grows out of the mud, rising toward the light to bloom in the sun, clean and perfect. This lotus was hand-carved by artisans in Chiang Mai, Thailand, following an ancient Thai-Burmese design.