Time to plant any thing

Image of Kalappa an ancient tool used to plough the paddy fields to make furrows to plant seeds. Shots are from Mancombu in Kuttanadu.

Thiruvathira Njattu vela, its the time in which rain will shower intermittently. According to experts its the time to plant anything. In this season it will grow. Farmers use this time to plant their saplings.

'Kalappa' is the traditional agricultural tool used for ploughing. This can also be seen in this shot. This tool is hitched to the Oxen to till the paddy.

A handful of Pavizhamalli flowers

Mithuna Mazha

Shades of violet

Shots from Maradu, Kattithara Sahakarana Road
Green house Beauty of yellow Thottavadi Kozhikkoodu

Gandharajan

Image of Gandharajan plant from Perunnai
'Gandha Rajan' the name having the meaning 'the king of smells. Its flower has a very special smell. It is white in colur with thick petals. Its used for pooja purposes.

• Cotton cultivation
• Kallimulchedi
• Image of Aalmaram
• Shots of Thekku maram
• Changalam peranda

Money plant

Imge of Money plant growing on a Mahagony tree at perunna
Money plant can grow in indoors. It is very easy to plant and nurture this plant. It may be the indoor plant of the lay man. It is a climber plant. Its an air purifier, it removes toxic vapours from the house. Very easy maintenance make it more popular. It is believed that this plant will bring abundance into the house.

Dasha Pushpam varieties of Thulasi Chethi High range views

Thekku maram

Aal maram

'Aal maram' or Banyan tree is a common character in our epic stories. In that time teacher and desciples will sit in the shades of banyan tree to have their classes. Peral is known as 'Vata vriksham'.

'Aalila thaliyumay varu nee thingale ithile ithile.....'

'Aalayal thara venam aduthorambalam venam athinodu chernnoru kulavum venam
kulippanay kulam venam kulathil chenthamara venam kulichu chennakam pookan chandanam venam poovayal manam venam poomanayal gunam venam poomanini markalayal adakkam venam yudhathinkal raman nalloo dukhathinkal seetha nalloo oonurakkam upekshikkan lakshmanan nalloo'

This big old banyan tree from Perunnai, Sree Subrahmanya swami temple.

Poochedi poo

These are also called kongini poo. They have a bad smell. They are of different colours. Now its used in gardens and parks. Its a common plant in Kerala. We can see these in hedges and sides of the roads.

Poovam tree and its attachments

An evergreen tree of Kerala. My school play ground has a very old Poovam tree. Under the tree there will be a carpet of fallen leaves and its fruits. It was a very big tree. Not only humans but trees, some flowers or some smells can make us nostalgic. 'A girl in white shirt and blue skirt with rose ribbons in hair' is the image attached with the Poovam tree in my mind. Still its there without branches. We gathered there during our drill period.

In English its known as Ceylon Oak. Oil extracted from its seed is used for ayurvedic medicines. Its wood is very hard.

Koovalam has also such an image...My father's home had a very big Koovalam with plenty of fruits. The 'asthithara' of my appooppan and ammoomma was kept there. That tree is also have a fixed place in my mind with the background of the ancient house with lot of 'Verandhas'. That was a typical Kerala home with 'Naduthalam' may be living room , ara'wooden store room' and Nilavara'underground store room'. It was in Kuttanadu. Nelkrishi was the main thing there. There was a big 'erithil' means cow shed there. We can see 'Vaikkol koona' or 'kachi thuru' as a fodder in each house.

'Mulaku chembarathi' a type of hibiscus flower will always remind me my ammoomma, she was bedridden for several years. Then I was in first or second standard, these flowers from the hedges ,the pungent smell of 'Kuzhambu' are still in my memories . When my father talk with her I will pluck these flowers and play with them. Thus these flowers became the thumb nail images of the sufferings of that good old lady.

panchagavyam

A mixture of milk, curd, ghee, chanakam(cow dung) and gomuthram(urine of cow). It is used in Pujas and it purifies our intestine.

Ambazham

Ambazham fruit

An old ambazham tree from Paravur

Ambazham tree images from my home

Ambazhanga is the fruit of this tree. It is sweet and sour. We used to make this for making pickles. A popular pazhanjollu in malayalam is 'Aanavayil ambazhanga'. Its Bark, leaves and roots are used in Ayurvedic medicines.

Kumbalanga Chakka Banana Flowers Pavizhamalli

How to be more positive?

Panchmritham

Panchamritham from Sree Subrahmanya swamy temple perunna. Grapes, dates, ghee,honey and banana are the ingredients. A very special offering to Sree Murukan. This is used for 'Abhishekam'(pour this over the idol). After the abhishekam it is believed that it has medicinal qualities.
Aravanapayasam

Another main offering in this temple is 'Uriyari payasam'.

'Shashti vratham' is a main ritual here.

Thypooya kavadi mahotsavam

Thypooya kavadi is the main festival. Devotees carry 'kavadi' on their shoulders with special offerings like tender coconut, milk, karpooram, panineer or bhasmam. This will be a great procession for two days. During that festival two teams, padinjattumbhagam and kizhakkumbhagam offer their kavadis separately. Its a spectacular festival with majestic jumbos, wide variety of percussion music and great fire works. Agni kavadi is also very famous. Devotees with their kavadi will walk through the fire. 'Shoolam kuthal' is also offered with great devotion. shoolam is the weapon of Sri Subrahmanya.

'pazhanimala kovilile pal kavadi balasubrahmanyante peelikavadi

velmuruka haro hara shanmukhane haro hara

aarumukha haro hara aandavane haro hara' Its a famous song about the kavadi at Pazhani mala.

More about the temple

Valan puli

Puli processed for storage purpose

Valan puli

Puli with its seeds. puli and pulinkuru

Puli without shell

Valan puli images

Valan puli maram

Valan puli maram

Its wood is hard and durable. It is used to make furniture and wooden flooring. Its leaves, pulp and bark have several medicinal qualities. Tamarind is a medicine for gastric problems in Ayurveda. Its a shade giving tree. Its name origin came from Arabic. Tamar hind means indian date.
Leaves of Valan puli (Tamarind)
Earlier every home has its own pulimaram. Its a great task to store puli for one year. Fully ripen fruits are collected from the tree. After breaking the shells, their seeds are removed. This process is known as 'Puli kuthal'. Seeds are known as Pulinkuru. After that they are dried to remove the water content. Then they are put in 'Bharani' large vessals made of clay. Seeds of Tamarind are called pulinkuru. Children will play with these seeds. Puli is used to clean bronze vessals.

Leaves of puli has healing qualities also. For bodyache, boil some water with puli leaves and have a bath with this hot water, a simple home remedy in Kerala.

Poovarasu

Flower of Poovarasu. Yellow flower will change into pink colur after some time.

Poovarasu is an ever green tree with high medicinal value. This is used for furniture making also. Yellow beautiful flowers are main attraction of this tree. Its leaves, barks and flowers are used in Ayurveda medicines. Its mainly used in medicines for skin diseases, jaundice and cough.

Kudam puli

Kudam puli processed for storage

Kudam Puli -Garcinia Cambogia
Its a valued fruit in India especially in Kerala. It is an inevitable part of Kerala Fish items. It is also known as Malabar Tamarind. Its Sanskrit name is Vrikshamla. People using Ayurvedic medicines Kudam puli is a must in their dishes most of them have to avoid Tamarind(Valan Puli). Kudam puli fruit has a fatty appearance and a sweet sour taste. The outer most part is used as Kudam puli. They are dried in sun for storage purpose.
It is a natural weight loss aid. It reduce body's tendency to store fat. It reduce weight through appetite control.
'ayala varuthathundu karimeen porichathundu Kudam puli ittu vecha nalla chemmeen kariyumundu' very famous lyrics...

Pavizhamalli

Pavizhamalli poothulanja neela vanam pranayavalli punjiricha....

An evergreen tree which blooms in the night. These flowers are collected from the ground by Hari to decorate his car. I like this flower because of its mixing of colours. These flowers are used in temples for poojas.

Kolambi poo

Kolambi in Malayalam means vessel used to spit. Earlier 'Vettila murukku' was a routine in life style of Kerala. Vettila(beetle leaves), Arecanut and pukayila are the main items. A vessel for spitting was necessary in that time. Kings and other eminent personalities have servants to take their Kolambis. The flower is in the shape of that vessel. That may be the reason for that name. During Onam this flower is widely used in flower arrangements. In 'Athapoo' floral decoration in the courtyard during Onam to welcome the great king Mahabali we used to put 'Kuda' in the midst of the Pookkalam. Kuda is made of flowers, flowers will be arranged in an 'eerkili'. This 'eerkili' will put straight on a banana stem fixed at the centre of the pookkalam. There will be a lot of 'kudas' in one pookkalam. Kolambi flowers and chembarathi(hibiscus) are mostly used to make 'kuda' for atha pookkalam. In that days Kolambi flowers are mostly seen in waste lands or in play grounds. But now they are the main ingredient of gardens. We used to pluck these flowers from small shrubs.
Now 'Vettila murukku' was replaced by Pans. We can see small pan stores even in front of schools.

Yellow flower

Kurunthotti

Kurunthotti is an effective herb for Arthritis. 'Kurunthottikkum vathamo' (vatham means arthritis) is a famous adage in Kerala. It is a smll shrub with tiny leaves. Its roots, stem and leaves are used for making medicine.

Mithuna mazha....

Everyone like them, may be because of their colour, because of the smell or may be for their appearance. These yellow flowers are very common in Kerala. These plants do not need much nourishing. The images of flowers give us joy. I always surf in flicker for variety of flowers just to see them. These flowers make us more attached to nature.

Allichenthamara is the name of the flower. Very pretty flower from Kerala.

A hasty shot because of the rains. Flowers are from the Shastri Nagar in Kochi.

'Manassil mithuna mazha pozhiyum azhakil oru mayilin alasa lasyam...'

Flowers bring a lot of positiveness into my mind. Especially rains make them more lovely. These shots are taken after a rain. Flowers are part of our culture too. Jasmine (mulla poo) is an inevitable part of marriage. Garlands, decoration of stage, decorate the hair of bride and other relatives....more and more. One of my relative was very keen to keep fresh flowers inside the house. She arranged them according to its height and colour. It will give an elegant look to the room and a positive sign to the visitors. Some days she had done it with some grass flowers. Every part of the nature has its own beauty. Our attitude is the main thing. Now fresh flowers became a vast business area. Hotels and other business institutions need fresh flower arrangement inside the rooms. Flower arrangement thus became a special area in interior designing. In the film'Swapanakkoodu' Kamal explored the story of two sisters selling flowers.

Other posts

10 Sacred flowers of Kerala

Some pictures of Tea gardens of Kerala

Cotton cultivation fields from Tamil nadu

Green House

Green house is a building where plants are cultivated under controlled environmental conditions. It is a system in which more productive advantages over unprotected open air cultivation. Green house protects crops from high wind, destructive storms, high temperatures and insects.
This technology overcomes the disadvantages of climate changes. Studies reveal that protected cultivation can increase yield up to 300%. In India Green house technology is in its nascent stage. Researchers expect a revolution in the field of vegetable farming through green house technology.

Mullan cheera

A variety of Cheera like pacha cheera with green leaves, but they have thorns in the stem. This leafy vegetable is a medicine to urinary infection.

Velicheera

Yellow flowers

These yellow flowers are from a play ground near to Petta junction in Kolatheri Road. It was a catching sight , a bed of yellow flowers like kammal poo but it is not the same.
Green carpet with yellow dots. Nature presents lot of mixtures before us...
'Manjal prasadavum nettiyil charthi manjal kurimundum chutti innente muttathu ponnonapoove nee vannu chirithooki ninnu'
The last one was taken by my son, one petal is on its way to ground!!!
Kerala flowers: Shanku pushpam, Mandaram, Chethi, Jamanthi, Flower of Thottavadi, Kanikkonna, Nanthiar vattom

Cotton-The world's most popular fabric

These shots are taken by my husband and his friend during their official trip to a green house at Alandurai village. I always prefer cotton but I had not seen a cotton plant or a cotton cultivation field. These fibre extract from the cotton plant is the source of the thread of our dress materials.
Shots are from Alandurai village in Coimbatore(on the way to Siruvani Reservoir) . Alandurai is a small village in the outskirts of Coimbatore. Siruvani Ghats are also seen as the back ground. Kutrallam waterfalls is only 5 Kms from here. Siruvani water falls and dam also have enchanting views. Siruvani lake is the second sweetest lake water in the world.
Cotton plucking
These shots are from Cotton cultivation field in Alandurai village, Coimbatore.
Organic cotton-Cotton farming depends highly on pesticides which is harmful to the environment. Most of the pesticides used are cancer causing chemicals. In organic farming methods nature friendly materials are used to fight against pests and fertilisers are also soil friendly. Thus organic farming made a revolution in the field of cotton cultivation in India, getting higher crop yield, lower growing costs and fewer health issues to the farmer. Another testimony to the slogan 'RETURN TO NATURE'.
Some facts about cotton

• Cotton is a soft fiber that grows around the seeds of the cotton plant
• India is 2nd largest producer of cotton in world
• Leading cotton producing states in India are Maharashtra, Gujarath and Andhra pradesh
• Cotton is mainly used in Textile industry
• It is used to make fish nets, cotton paper, coffee filter and in book binding.

Advantages of cotton clothing

• Soft
• Light
• Breathable
• It is natural, allows better air circulation
• Keeps the body clean and dry
• can make variety of cloth items
• long lasting
• It can endure high temperatures so it used in hospitals
• Cotton is bio degradable and a renewable resource
• Inexpensive
• easy wash and ware
• Cotton is a nature friendly material which is beneficial for our health.