Parijat - The Night Jasmine In love with this obscure flower since my childhood autumn months filled my lane with her fragrance divine allured by its beauty and intoxicated by it's scent I stood under that tree many a times in awe of its beauty, colour and many tell-tales I vow to have one such tree in my own garden one day. Parijat - a tree from heaven as they say ethereal flowers with provoking fragrance. The Gods who themselves were smitten by her beauty fought amongst themselves to lay a claim. Harsingar she is called too , a blossom fit for Gods a pin wheel flower with white corolla petals saffron stalk to the centre, replicating the sun. My grandmother told me once of a beautiful legend of a one sided-love. Love between princess Parijat and the Sun when the Sun refused her love the princess couldn’t take the rejection She killed herself to prover her love for him and thus this tree rose from her ashes. Thus she now blooms only in the night and as the dawn approaches her withered flower fall like teardrops, she sheds them as soon as the sun is up, loathing the sight of her lover who never loved her. Parijat - The Night Jasmine I vow to have one such tree in my own garden one day. ©Preeti S Manaktala Day 11
Our optional prompt for the day is based on the concept of the language of flowers. Have you ever heard, for example, that yellow roses stand for friendship, white roses for innocence, and red roses for love? Well, there are as many potential meanings for flowers as there are flowers. For today, I challenge you to write a poem in which one or more flowers take on specific meanings. And if you’re having trouble getting started, why not take a gander at this glossary of flower meanings? (You can find a plain-text version here). Feel free to make use of these existing meanings, or make up your own.
What a beautiful story. Is it the same as ‘raat ki rani?’ I have it in my balcony. If it is the same, I guess I’ll love it more now after reading your poem 🙂
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Though both bloom in the night , Raat ki rani is a different flower Smitha.. those are white in colour with an equally amazing fragrance.
Parijat blooms only between August-December.
😃
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Oh ok. Thanks for the info. The gardener gave it to me and my maid raved about it. I didn’t have an inkling. But now I do, thanks to you:)
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