No, this is not about political parties that use the lotus or the hand as their symbol. This is about Padmapani — he who bears the lotus, a Buddhist image from the Ajanta caves in Maharashtra that is among the earliest surviving artworks of India.

This image was painted about 1,600 years ago and remains among the earliest murals in Indian history. Painted by Buddhist monks inside a dark cave, one wonders why members of a monastic order would paint such beauty far from the beholder’s eye.