Utpala in Sanskrit is a neuter noun with two meanings, both given by (a lexicon of circa. 400 AD). The first meaning is Nymphaea nouchali, the "blue lotus", also known as kuvalaya in Sanskrit.[1] [2] The second meaning of utpala is a variety of medicinal plant known as '' in Hindi and ', vyādhi, paribhavyam or pāribhavyam, vāpyam, pākalam' according to .[3] [4] [5] [6]
In Buddhist art the utpala flower is an attribute of the goddess Tara, who very often holds one in her hand,[7] as other Buddhist and Hindu figures may also do. Later, the utpala becomes specific to the Green Tara form, while the White Tara holds a white lotus flower (probably Nymphaea lotus).[8] In Tibet, where none of the tender aquatic plants that may be known as lotus can grow, utpala became a general term for all of them.[9]
Monier-Williams gives the following meanings of utpala: (1) the blossom of the blue lotus Nymphaea nouchali (-Mahābhārata, Rāmāyana, Suśruta, Raghuvamsa, Meghdoota, etc.),(2) a seed of Nymphaea nouchali (-Suśruta), (3) the plant Costus speciosus (-Bhagavata Purāna), (4) any water-lily, any flower, (-lexicons) (5) a particular hell (-Buddhist literature), (6) name of a Nāga, (7) names of several persons, including an astronomer, (8) its feminine form utpalā meant a river (-Harivamśa), (9) its feminine form utpalā also meant a kind of cake made of unwinnowed corn (-lexicons);
An unrelated homonym, compounded from ud "apart" + pala "flesh" means 'fleshless, emaciated' (-lexicons) and is the name of a particular hell (-lexicons).