Blooms this week - Harshringar

This time, here I am with some freshest pictures from one of the plants that has bloomed for the first time. This is the harshringar, also known as parijat or parijaat. Nyctanthes arbor-tristis is a plant that owing to it's beautiful blooms, has attained an almost divine status, especially in Hinduism and Jainism. Parijat, in Hindu mythology and scriptures, is a heavenly tree from the abode of Lord Vishnu (Vaikuntha), which in the ancient scriptures, is said to possess powers to impart everlasting youth. Though, there is no scientific evidence to show that this plant possesses any such qualities, the plant is still called parijat and and thus has a divine status.

Owing to the beautiful and unique flowers in white and orange, and having an immensely strong fragrance, the flowers are quite beautiful. The flowers bloom late in the evening, in bunches, spreads its fragrance throughout the night, and as the day comes up, all the flowers fall down on the ground. As for my plants, I tried growing them from cuttings I brought in from a nearby park, and tried planting them for three years straight, and finally succeeded with the cuttings in the third year. This year, it's the second year, and I am quite lucky to have two of the stems growing pretty well. These days, both the plants have lots of flower buds which are blooming and spreading fragrance.

I’ll leave you guys to enjoy the blooms, till I get some stuff done for the upcoming next post for the transplantation of my pomegranate plant I carried out in the last week, and the new plants, I introduced in the garden this week.