As I was tuning the radio to listen to my favorite radio channel while carpooling to my office, I heard about the Lalbagh flower show and immediately made a plan to visit it after my work that day. Every year on Republic Day and Independence Day, remarkable flower shows are organized at the Lalbagh Botanical Garden in Bangalore. The bi-annual event is jointly organized by the Department of Horticulture and Mysore Horticulture Society, becoming one of the most awaited events in the city of Gardens. This year’s theme is a tribute to Mahatma Gandhi to commemorate his 150th Birth Anniversary. The show was inaugurated on 18th Jan and ended on 26th Jan with a footfall of 7 lakh visitors.
As we were entering the glass house of Lalbagh after good 20 mins walk around the botanical garden, we were excited to see all the flower decorations on display. Heavy security was arranged to protect the flower arrangements and to maintain order in side the covered glass house.
The first thing that you would see on entering the glass house is a huge statue of Mahatma Gandhi holding a child surrounded by beautiful flower pots. A little inside, you can see a replica of Mahatma Gandhi’s ashram in Sabarmati intricately decorated by large varieties of roses and white chrysanthemums. If you pay attention, you would notice the man siting in the middle of display, posing as Mahatma Gandhi is Vemgal Somashekhar. It’s his sixth public appearance as Gandhi ji.
While roaming around admiring the flowers, I saw this absolute beauty – a Paludarium. A Paludarium is an aquarium which has as terrestrial plants as well as aquatic plants along with the aquatic life.
You would also see a replica of beautifully decorated Raj Ghat, a memorial of Mahatma Gandhi in Delhi and a millet replica of him playing with his grandson Kanu in front of the Sabarmati ashram. Kanu was a former Nasa scientist who died in 2016. He had walked along with Gandhi ji during the Dandi march in 1930.
Organizers of the flower show have perfectly showcased Mahatma Gandhi’s life and messages through various exhibits like the 3 wise monkeys statue. Each one of the monkeys represent – one should not see evil, hear evil or speak evil. Entire glass house has events of his life portrayed through old photographs marking important incidents in Indian history.
When I was busy admiring the bio curtains (pots of plants arranged in a fashion to look like a curtain. By the way, these are ideal eco-friendly ways to grow plants in hard locations), my Husband met a famous cartoonist Sridhar Comaravalli admiring the beautiful flower arrangements. After initial interaction with my husband, he asked him to draw something on his mobile screen and he created a caricature out of the doodle. It was so amazing to see the final caricature out of some random lines. You should have seen the excitement on my husband’s face after taking a selfie with him. Apart from the amazing bio curtains, the flower show introduced a concept of vertical garden with an array of pots of plants arranged vertically.
The specialty of this year’s flower show is the use of Darjeeling Cymbidium Orchids. This variety of orchids are used for the very first time in the history of Lalbagh flower show. Apart from Darjeeling Cymbidium Orchids, 250 species of orchids in 76 colors are displayed in a form of pyramid.
After coming out of the glass house, we walked around in a circle admiring the many flower sculptures and statues placed in the garden. As the setting sun gave way to the stars of night, we decided to come back.
“Flowers always make people better, happier, and more helpful; they are sunshine, food and medicine to the mind.”
Luther Burbank
I truly believe in the above Luther Burbank’s quote. Looking at beautiful flowers itself is a medicine to cure your heart and admiring beauties of nature will bring out your happier self. If you get a chance to visit the Lalbagh flower show this year in August, then don’t miss it. I bet, you would love the delicate flower arrangements and the intricately build replicas.
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