The golden shower- A plant with golden flowers

 

Scientific name: Cassia fistula

Common names:This plant is known with different names like the golden shower, pudding pipe-tree ,Indian laburnum.

More about it: The plant is a small tree with pinnate leaves and has small oval  leaflets.
They are mostly used as an ornamental plant because of it pendulous flowers(raceme) which looks like chandeliers. They are bright yellow in color looking like gold. They flower once in a year during the month of April. But now a days because of the change in climate ,we can see them blooming in odd months.

This tree is native to Asian continents and  it is the state flower of Kerala- the southern state in India.

In Kerala this plant is known as "Kannikonna" and related to the Hindu festival Vishu. This has another different story which I will share later sometime.

Cultural background: 

Now lets see  how this plant came to earth according to Hindu mythology.
Long back ,when caste discrimination was exiting in India(sadly, it still exits), the people from lower caste were not allowed to enter the temples in Kerala.
Everyday a little boy from a lower caste used to visit the  temple of Lord Krishna but nobody allowed him to enter the temple. One day he standing in front of the temple ,he cried and prayed that he want to see his god.
That day a small boy came to play with him. Evening after playing, the small boy gifted the boy a gold chain.
The next morning ,as usual when the priest opened the door of the shrine to do the prayer, he was shocked to see that one of the chains on the idol(of Lord Krishna ) was missing.  They searched everywhere but couldn't find it. 
Then one of the commoners there shared a doubt that may be the little boy  who used to come here everyday might have stolen it. 
So everyone went to the little boy's house and yes, they found the chain around  his neck. 
So now you can guess what happened next. 
Even though the boy told truth ,no  one believed.
They didn't wanted their god to wear something worn by a person from lower caste. So they snatched the chain and throw it away .
Guess what happened?? 
The chain fell on a dry tree and suddenly the whole tree bloom into golden yellow flowers.

Everyone saw the lord Krishna sitting on that tree.
This tree is our Kannikonna or Cassia fistula.

The common uses of the plant:

The plant is extensively used to clean the stomach and cure swellings or wounds.

Almost all the parts of the plant is used and has very importance in Ayurveda. 

The parts are cleaned ,then sun-dried and powdered. The powder is used for making decoctions and used when needed.

Tulsi-the sacred plant

 

THE HOLY BASIL 

Scientific name:  Ocimum sanctum

Common names:  Tulsi, Holy basil, Krishna tulsi 

Found :

The plant is native to India. It can be seen growing abundantly across different states of the country.

It is also common in south Asian countries (though its  different varieties are found in other parts of the world)

More about it: 

These are aromatic shrubs. The plant has a hairy, purplish stem. The leaves are oval and  has small purplish tubular flower. They have a bunch of fibrous roots(hair like).

There are different types of Tulsi known in different names in different parts. The wild Tulsi is little more bushy and is more purplish . It has a stronger smell ,so its parts can be used perfume the cupboards and clothes.

Cultural importance:

The plant has a very cultural importance in Hindu religion and is also mentioned  in Hindu scriptures about its importance. It is offered in temples to the deities directly as leaves or as garlands. It represents a form of goddess(wife of Lord Vishnu and prayers are offered to it. In north India, there is a celebration known as 'Tulsi Vivah' (the day when Tulsi is married to the Lord Vishnu/Krishna).In south India, it was a tradition and a culture to have a Tulsi plant at the front of their house, to which they did the offerings.

Uses:

Medicinally also it is very important and major ingredient  in many of the ayurvedic medicines. It was common to use decoctions of Tulsi leaves for  fevers. It is used for respiratory problems and also in cough syrups. 

During the 2009 Swine flu pandemic, when people where desperate to find a cure for it and there was no solution from the modern medicine, they started to look for the natural remedies. And immediately there was remedy that if you eat 2 or 3 leaves of Tulsi in the morning everyday empty stomach, it can prevent the spread.

 

How to grow it?

Flowers -green when young which turns purple as it matures and finally turns brown.

Flowers -green when young which turns purple as it matures and finally turns brown.

You can grow the Tulsi plant from their seeds and also from the stem cutting. But the common way is with the seeds which we can collect the flowers with the help of forceps or pluckers and sprinkle them directly to the soil. Do not over water it and it needs warm and sunny climate.

Planting is easy but taking care is important.