In Honor of Shark Week: Celebrating Water Lilies and Their Surprising Shark Connection

As Shark Week rolls in, most people are diving into documentaries and facts about these magnificent ocean predators. But here at Evans Flowers, we’re taking a slightly different approach—one that celebrates the quiet beauty of water lilies, and their unexpected link to sharks in Tamil culture.

Yes, you read that right. In Tamil tradition, water lilies and sharks are connected through ancient symbolism, poetry, and mythology. So while we love the thrill of Shark Week, we’re also pausing to appreciate this gentle aquatic bloom that shares symbolic waters with the fiercest fish in the sea.

The Water Lily in Tamil Culture

In classical Tamil literature, especially from the Sangam period (circa 300 BCE to 300 CE), nature was often used as a metaphor to express deep emotion. Flowers, landscapes, and animals were not just decorative—they were deeply symbolic.

One such pairing is between water lilies (called alli or neelotpala in Tamil) and sharks (sura or chura). In many love poems of the era, the water lily represents the gentle, emotional beauty of a lover, while the shark symbolizes intensity, strength, and often a lurking threat beneath calm waters. The two together express the duality of love—its serenity and its danger, its beauty and its depth.

In one famous motif, a woman sits by a pond full of water lilies, longing for her absent lover. Below the surface, sharks glide—a poetic image of emotional turmoil beneath her still exterior. The lilies bloom gently above, undisturbed, but danger and longing swirl below.

It’s a powerful image—and a reminder of the complexity of human emotion, all captured through nature.

What Water Lilies Symbolize Today

In the broader language of flowers, water lilies symbolize purity, enlightenment, and rebirth—largely because of their life cycle. Each bloom rises from the mud, opens in the sunlight, then disappears into the water at night, only to rise again the next day.

In this way, they also echo resilience and transformation, making them a beautiful symbol of personal growth or new beginnings. Gifting someone a water lily (or an arrangement inspired by one) can express deep admiration, a sense of calm, or even a fresh start.

How to Use Water Lilies and Water Lily-Inspired Flowers

While true water lilies are aquatic and best suited to ponds, their aesthetic—rounded petals, serene presence—has inspired many blooms in floral design.

• Use water lily-like flowers such as lotus, peonies, ranunculus, or garden roses for arrangements that mimic their shape.
• Pair them with flowing greenery, like ferns or eucalyptus, to echo that soft, floating look.
• For Shark Week, consider an arrangement that features light and dark contrast—white blooms above, with deep blues or dark greens below—to capture that duality seen in Tamil poetry.

A Different Kind of Shark Week Tribute

This Shark Week, while we learn about the incredible power of sharks, we’re also honoring the stillness and symbolism of water lilies—flowers that, in one of the world’s oldest poetic traditions, were seen as companions to these underwater legends.

So whether you're a fan of marine biology or classical literature—or just love a good bouquet—consider the water lily: rooted in mud, blooming in still water, and forever dancing with shadows beneath the surface.