Champa

Champa - a very fragrant flower being sold in the old flower market in Dadar.
Champa is native to Indonesia, India and other neighbouring areas. It occurs naturally in the eastern Himalayan region. It is a large evergreen tree with a long straight bole of 18-21 m with a close tapering crown composed of ascending branches. The most interesting part of the tree are its flowers which are not very showy with few narrow yellowish white petals, but have an extremely heady fragrance. This fragrance has made Champa flowers very popular and they have been part of the culture in India from time immemorial. They are used in religious offering in various parts of India. On a warm humid night, the scents can easily be enjoyed several hundred feet away.
Info sourced from http://www.flowersofindia.net/

Lotus buds

Lotus buds on sale in the old flower market in Dadar.

Padma (nelumblum speciosum), the sacred lotus, is an aquatic plant that plays a central role in Indian religions such as Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism. The lotus and lotus flower is an ancient polyvalent symbol. The lotus flower is one of the Vajrayana Ashtamangala. It is representative of creation and cosmic renewal and shares in the chakra and mandala symbolism of the Dharmachakra. It also represents purity as its flowers grow on long stalks, which are rooted in the mud. It is also symbolic of detachment as drops of water easily slide off its petals.

Robert Lawlor (1991: p.388) states:

The lotus in both Egypt and India symbolizes the union of the four elements; earth, air, fire, and water. The roots are in the earth, it grows in and by means of water, its leaves are nourished by air, and it blooms through the power of the sun's fire. The lotus is therefore the perfection of the fourfold order of the natural world. The growth of a new flower directly from the earth-bound original (inflorescent proliferation) may be interpreted as a symbol of transcendence as found in Indian philoshophy: a spiritual emergence of a higher world directly from our physical manifestation. It may also be interpreted, as in Egypt, as the exaltation of the essence quality of the lotus.

Info sourced from Wikipedia.

Roses roses all the way!

Roses on sale at the old flower market in Dadar.

Skywatch Friday

The sky in Mumbai at 2049hrs tonite! We had a rather stormy afternoon/evening but then around 2000hrs the sky cleared and I managed to capture a bit of sky for our skywatchers around the world!
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Marigolds

A row of shops, in Dadar old flower market, selling Marigolds. These are sold by weight.
The marigold is widely cultivated in India and Thailand, particularly the species T. erecta, T. patula, and T. tenuifolia. Vast quantities of marigolds are used in garlands and decoration for weddings, festivals, and religious events. The common name, "marigold", is derived from "Mary's Gold", and the plant is associated with the Virgin Mary in Christian stories. The different species vary in size from 0.05-2.2 m tall. They have pinnate green leaves, and white, golden, orange, yellow, to an almost red floral heads typically (0.1-) to 4-6 cm diameter, generally with both ray florets and disc florets.
Info sourced from Wikipedia

ABC Wednesday - C

A vendor in Dadar hawking Coriander.
Coriander (Coriandrum sativum), also commonly called cilantro, is an annual herb in the family Apiaceae. Coriander is native to southwestern Asia west to north Africa. It is a soft, hairless plant growing to 50 cm [20 in.] tall. The leaves are variable in shape, broadly lobed at the base of the plant, and slender and feathery higher on the flowering stems. All parts of the plant are edible, but the fresh leaves and the dried seeds are the most commonly used in cooking. Coriander is commonly used in Middle Eastern, Mediterranean,Indian, South Asian, Latin American, Chinese, African and Southeast Asian cuisine. The leaves are variously referred to as coriander leaves, cilantro (in the United States, from the Spanish name for the plant), dhania (in the Indian subcontinent, and increasingly in Britain), Chinese parsley or Mexican parsley. The leaves have a very different taste from the seeds, similar to parsley but "juicier" and with citrus-like overtones.
Info sourced from Wikipedia.
Apologies for posting it 08hrs late. Had connectivity problems.
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Old flower market

One the railway station side of the flyover in Dadar is the old flower market. Now though it is shifted about 5kms south, there still are the old timers who linger on to sell flowers. The ones that you see in the picture are the hawkers while the licensed sellers ply their trade from regular shops.

Flyover Dadar!

This is one end of the flyover/bridge that goes over the entrance to the local Dadar railway station. You can imagine the chaotic conditions if the traffic had to go through the crowds seen in the photo posted yesterday!