About

We believe understanding begins with curiosity. Lotus creates immersive experiences that reveal the people, ideas, and histories behind the world’s cultures - starting with South Asia.

Lotus creates immersive experiences that inspire curiosity, challenge stereotypes, and foster a deeper understanding of the world’s cultures.

Our story

The Lotus Project was born out of direct exposure to the problem. We saw coworkers and peers reduce our cultures to the shallow stereotypes they saw online. But for every tradition someone ridicules, there are centuries, maybe even millennia of deep culture behind it.

We’re starting with South Asian culture because first of all, it’s one of the largest demographics in the world. At the same time, it’s one of the most misunderstood - the problem is only getting worse. A lot of people don’t see the millennia of philosophy, advanced science, math and linguistics that have shaped South Asia.

One of Lotus’ core principles is immersion. For far too long, education has been rote memorization and lectures - we want to change that. In fact, Lotus started as a VR initiative. We created this website because we want cultural knowledge to be accessible to more people around the world.

Our mission

  • Increase cultural literacy.
  • Encourage curiosity about South Asian intellectual history.
  • Present ancient, cultural knowledge in an engaging and interactive way.
  • Inspire lifelong learning through exploration.
  • Make cultural knowledge accessible.
  • Help people discover their identity and roots.

Why “Lotus”?

A lot of people ask us about the reason behind the name. Lotus originally started out solely as a VR recreation of the ancient Nalanda University, the first ever global university. Nalanda comes from the Sanskrit roots “nalam”, meaning lotus, and “da”, meaning to bestow. In South Asian culture, the lotus often represents wisdom, knowledge and resilience. Nalanda remains an important part of the Lotus Project, but beyond the institution, our name represents the endless knowledge that we hope to provide a glimpse of through our work.

Our approach

At Lotus, we believe in immersion and interaction. Knowledge shouldn’t feel static, because it isn’t - it’s constantly growing and changing. Our experiences are too. As you explore our digital museum, we encourage you to make connections, explore your own curiosities, and seek understanding, rather than reading passively. Our goal is never to show you everything - just enough to spark your curiosity and make you question things a little.

  • Interactive learning experiences.
  • Visual storytelling.
  • Connections between people, ideas, texts, and places.
  • Encouraging exploration rather than passive reading.

Meet the team

  • Sahana Venkataraman

    Founder & CEO

  • Maha Kaushik

    Digital Content Lead

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