The tiny white flowers of the Udumbara are suspended on delicate stalks that are finer than human hair.
According to Buddhist scriptures, these flowers only blossom once every 3,000 years with the arrival of Chakravartin, the Holy Law Wheel King, when he comes to rectify the Dharma in the human world.
Udumbara means “an auspicious flower from heaven” in the ancient Indian language of Sanskrit.
The scriptures hold that it is a product of ominous and supernatural phenomena—a celestial flower that does not exist in the mundane world, and manifests due to the great virtue and blessings of a Tathagata buddha.
In the scriptures, this buddha is the ideal king who rules the world not with force but with the great law, and offers salvation to the world’s people.
At first glance, the udumbara can look similar to the eggs of an insect called the green lacewing (Chrysopa). However, closer inspection reveals that the flowers have petal- and stamen-like structures which the eggs lack.
