This is one event worth attending.
One event worth braving Bangalore traffic.
One event worth enduring a crowd.
It’s amazing how creative they can be. Of course, some elements recur every year. But there is enough innovation that makes me want to go time after time. And who would tire of flowers?
The weeklong flower show happens twice every year, ending on August 15th and 26th January. It is recommended that you go in the beginning, because that’s when the flowers are most fresh. Towards the end, they are withered, ever so slightly.
For the record, this time, the ticket cost Rs 30/-
For the first time that I have seen, they had flowers on the lake at the entrance, filled into a few coracles and looked very pretty. Usually the glass house and the area around it is where the ‘show’ is.
Inside the glass house, the centre area is made into two separate portions, the first one depicting a famous sculpture like Qutub Minar made completely out of flowers and the second portion, having several arrangements based on a common theme.
This time, it was a Buddhist Stupa. Specifically, which one this is modeled after, I could not figure out.
Right behind this was an arrangement that looked like a waterfall, made of a species of lily I think. This one, according to me, was the best of them all.
The second portion was based on the theme of dance – flowers were arranged to depict different dance forms in India, each depiction using different property – the dandiya raas using the dandiya sticks, peacock feathers etc., Kathakali used painted face masks, bhangra used head gears that Punjabis wear when dancing etc. my favourite was Manipuri.
Fortunately the music being played was instrumental. Last time, there was the loud blaring film songs that not only vexed the souls of those like me but would cause the flowers too to wilt soon.
Some areas had barricades made of thin black wires and thick yellow ropes and these yellow ones were an eyesore. They should have used green or brown thin wires wherever needed.
Carnations were much used in the arrangements, perhaps since they remain fresh for long and I realized how beautiful they looked. From a distance, you would think they were roses.
I am simply happy to be living in South Bangalore. One of those things in life you should be grateful for.
Bharatanatyam
Bhangra
Dandiya Raas
Kathakali
3 comments:
Wow..kinda makes me wanna be in Banglore..Thanks for the pictures..
superb pictures
DSC00514 - refers to the BOMBAX Tree - ಬುರುಗ tree in kannada. Everytime i visit lalbagh and see this tree I think of Bana the great sanskrit poet who has taken great pleasure to describe this tree in his amazing romantic book - KADAMBARI.
Everyone can read the book online
http://www.archive.org/stream/kadambariofbana00banarich#page/21/mode/2up
I have read the translation in kannada. The friendship between the characters is so deep that one if ready to die for the other. Two friends cry for each others misery. The main character is Mahaswetha who waits eternally for her love in a forest. The poet explains everything in detail. He is in no hurry. The story starts with a parrot being bought to the kings court. The parrot is smart and intelligent and can recite vedas.
Everyone is curious because the story is being told by a Parrot to the King . Secondly the parrot is telling its own story to the king.It creates a curiosity about the past and the future of the parrot. We keep asking ourselves "what happens after this ?". What a wonderful way to start writing a novel - is it not ?
The king treats the parrot with respect and asks these question
"Tell us from the very beginning the whole history of thy birth — in what country, and how wert thou born, and by whom was thy name given ? Who were thy father and mother ? How came thine attainment of the Vedas, and thine acquaintance with the Sastras, and thy skill in the fine arts ? What caused thy remembrance of a former birth ? Was it a special boon given thee ? Or dost thou dwell in disguise, wearing the form only of a bird, and where didst thou formerly dwell ? How old art thou, and how came this bondage of a cage, and the falling into the hands of a Candula maiden, and thy coming hither?' Thus respectfully questioned by the king, whose curiosity was kindled, Vaiyampayana thought a moment, and reverently replied, "Sire, the tale is long ; but if it is thy leisure, let it be heard."
Here is the explanation about the tree everyone will enjoy.
1> It is a temple whence wood-land goddesses can look out upon the whole world. It is the king of the Dandaka Wood, the leader of the lordly trees, the friend of the Vindhya Mountains, and it seems to embrace with the arms of its boughs the whole Vindhya Forest.
2> To show how old the tree is - This is what he says
it is girt with creepers that cover its whole trunk, and stand out like the thick veins of old age. Thorns have gathered on its surface like the moles of old age ; not even the thick clouds by which its foliage is bedewed can behold its top, when, after drinking the waters of ocean, they return from all sides to the sky, and pause for a moment, weary with their load of water, like birds amongst its boughs.
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