Garden of Platypus

I remember believing and reveling in religion and God but somewhere along my adolescence I left behind my innocence and my belief and God. For the longest time I've been an atheist but I've always found the concept of a God fascinating. Saraswati, the goddess of learning holds a special place in my heart and I still remember being a mere child, waking up at the break of dawn, washing myself with kacha holud and hurriedly putting on the yellow panjabi by mother laid out for me and rushing to join my grandmother infront of the idol. Everyone went to school on Saraswati Puja except me because I hated school and I hated the people I studied with. Growing up queer, school was always hard for me. Not academically but socially.

A day at the Agri-Horticultural Society of India 💕

Nelumbo nucifera

The earliest mention of Lotus (Nelumbo Nucifera) in the subcontinent can be found in the Vedas, where the word puskura has been used to describe this beguiling flower. The Atharva Veda says the scent of the earth resides in the Lotus. “Yaste gandhah puskuram avivesa” which literally translates into “Thy sweet scent, which entered the puskura”. According to the Rig Veda, Agni – the god of fire – emerged out of a Lotus flower. Ancient sculptures from the Chalukya dynasty from 5th century AD show a male figure, which has been identified as Prajapati – the Creator – later known as Brahma, resting on a Lotus leaf. The Taittiriya Aranyaka says, “the world was water that was moving. He, Prajapati, alone appeared on the lotus leaf. Within his mind originated a desire ‘may I create this world.’” Almost all Vedic creation myths describe Lotus as the flower from which all creation emerges.

Golden Trumpets Serenade the Skies

Tabebuia aurea is a species of Tabebuia native to South America in Suriname, Brazil, eastern Bolivia, Peru, Paraguay, and northern Argentina.

The common English name Caribbean trumpet tree is misleading, as it is not native to the Caribbean. It is also known as the silver trumpet tree, and tree of gold.

Pentapetes phoenicea also known as Copper Cups.

Closely related to the Hibiscus flower, this beautiful flowering plant is mostly treated as a weed in rice fields but they do occupy a small niche as ornamental flowers also. Perhaps it's most important use comes from the Santhals, a tribal community of West Bengal who use it as an antidote to snake bites.

It's a very pretty flower and the species name was given due to it's bright red petals resembling that of a Phoenix's plumage.

Couroupita guianensis or the Cannon Ball Tree.

Listed as a rare tree in India, this unique plant bears a much more unique flower of religious importance. Known as Nagalingam puspa, this flower is revered by Hindus as the petals resembles hoods of a snake protecting a Shiva Lingam, the stigma.

It forms fruits the size of small cannon balls hence known as the Cannon Ball Tree but personally I think Nagalingam is a much better name.

Aparajita ( Clitoria ternatea).

Also known as Neelkantha as it's natural colour is a bright indigo resembling the throat of Lord Shiva after he consumed poison during the Churning of the Oceans.

This particular flower has a lighter bluish hue as it is a result of a cross between a white and a blue variety of the flower.

Saccharum spontaneum or Wild sugarcane

Regarded as one of the flowers that signal the descent of Maa Durga from the heavens amongst the people of West Bengal.