Wild Flowers of the Western Ghats

I could capture some of the lovely wild flowers when I visited some places in the mountainous regions of the Western Ghats last weekend. The Gloriosa superba lily is the queen of the tropical wild flowers. It is called Agnishikha, fire flower- locally. Its tuber is used in Ayurveda medicine.
The intense blue of the Snake weed makes the flowers stand out in the undergrowth of the jungle clearing. The plant is used to treat snake bites. It resembles the Porterweed which is a familiar sight in the plains.
Beautiful white flowers of the Wild Tobacco Lobelia nicoteanefolia were dotting the jungle landscape . This is also a poisonous plant. The leaves are used for the treatment of asthma and bronchitis.
I could not find the names of these two wild flowers.
This is my contribution to Flowers for Today. You can see beautiful flowers from the far corners of the world here.

Weekend Reflections- Stairs

Stairs are climbed step by step.

- Turkish proverb.

This picture was taken in Mandu at the small palace built by the Moghul emperor Babur in the 16th century. These stairs are typical of early Mughal architecture.

You can see wonderful reflections from all over the world at Weekend Reflections.

Skywatch Friday

Early morning at Horanad in the Western Ghats. The clouds cover the dense tropical forests, which are dwindling at an alarming rate.

My thanks to the team of Skywatch Friday.

ABC Wednesday- Q

"What is a quisqualis?" asked the quiz master.

"Queer question!" quipped the quack. "It isn't a quail or a quotation,

nor a quadrangle or a quadratic equation.......
Can it be a quadruped carrying a quintal?"

"Not quite correct!" was the answer.

Quisqualis is the flower in the first picture. It is called Madhumalati meaning honey jasmine in its native India. When it was to be given an official name in England, the bored botanist saw it and exclaimed"What on earth is this?" , which translates to Quis qualis in Latin.

A temple of Knowledge

Sringeri , in the Western Ghats is famous for the temple to Sharada, the goddess of Knowledge. There is an ancient monastery here, established by Adi Shankaracharya 1800 years ago. It is a prominent seat of Hindu philosophy.
The monastery is on the banks of the river Tunga, which is full of fish. People do not fish here out of respect for the monks.

My thanks to the team of Our World, where you can see photos from all parts of the world.

Skywatch Friday

The skies of Malwa were the same clear blue as the water last month. Our skies here are perpetually grey. I am looking forward to the trip to the Western Ghats this weekend organised by the Ladies Club. I hope the skies there are colourful.

Head over to Skywatch Friday to see fabulous skies from around the world.

ABC Wednesday- P

The Peacock peeked into TiPu's Palace.
The pretty palace did not pander to his vanity. Off he went to Peking....
perchance, he saw a pretty picture in Hong Kong.
The pastel coloured palace in in Mysore piqued him.
The poor man's palm- thatched palace won the prize!

My thanks to the team of ABC Wednesday.