Human Flower Project

Wednesday, August 01, 2007

Shapla: Wild, Curried, Currency

The water lily crops up everywhere in Bangladesh, from coinage to kitchens to haors.

The permanent lagoons of Bangladesh

Image: Bangladesh Water Development Board



As the Inuit have many names for “snow,” the people of Bangladesh see within their wetlands “beels,”  “haors” and “baors.” All are varieties of lagoons in this, one of the richest marshland environments of the world. The national flower, known as shapla, is of course aquatic, the beautiful wild white water lily, Nymphaea pubescens.

A family gathers shapla

to sell near Dhaka

Photo: Rafiqur Rahman, for Reuters

We were drawn to this flower after seeing Rafiqur Rahman photograph of a couple, baby in tow, gathering shapla “to sell at Madartake on the outskirts of Dhaka.” The buds are closed and the lilies’ long stems have been perfectly coiled and arrayed in the bottom of a shallow boat. We’re not sure whether the flowers will be market and used as ornaments or as food, for we understand that in Bangladesh “rural people consume (shapla) as curry. Children are also fond of eating the stem and the fruit even green.” Further, we understand that in some villages, streetside vendors serve food on the shapla’s thick pads, a smart alternative to paper or plastic plates.

1 taka note

Image: Squadron 402



An open lily floating between two sheaves of rice is the national emblem and appears both on coins (the poisha) and on paper currency (the taka). In downtown Dhaka’s banking district, the sculpture Shapla Chatwar blooms perpetually (perhaps analogous to the snorting bull statue on Wall Street in New York City).

While the shapla may have been singled out as emblem of Bangladesh, this nation of “haors” and “baors” is home to 300,000 more wild plants. Clearly, the beautiful Nymphaea pubescens will never lack human or floral company.

A lagoon with shapla blossoms

Photo: Banglapedia