Historically speaking, the Lotus Mahal was a royal Zenana. A pleasure retreat for Krishna Deva Raya’s queen in 19th Century Vijayanagara, India.
So why would a woman of German and Irish descent, from the Midwest, choose this name for a blog? Simple: A Zenana represents a safe place. A place where a woman can be a woman without worry of prying eyes. A retreat into the beautiful and sublime. Her inner chamber where only the elect are permitted to enter.
Zenana, Harem, Seraglio, Serail; even so far as Burqa. These terms, to the Western mind, often conjure up sequestration against one’s will. But I challenge you to embrace these terms as places of safety and anonymity. As places of beauty dedicated to the being of women.
My Lotus Mahal. My joyeux Zenana. My inner chamber.
A place of safety, self-exploration and self-expression; a place of beauty; a place where colors run deep; where dreams run wild.
