The God’s own country, Kerala and its backwaters are home to some of the finest flowers that you can see while travelling in India. At Kumarakom for instance, which offers a wide variety of flora and fauna, there are small canals that are home to hibiscus plantations forming a beautiful green overview. Again, at Thiruvallam, there are huge backwaters like the rest of Kerala that have multi-colored flowers plantations lying neatly inside the water areas. At Kochi, the fishing nets look excellent with wildflowers stacked besides the coastline. When you first visit Kochi, you almost forget to notice how the greenery adds to the amazing seascape. That’s the story for most of Kerala which would be incomplete without its green belt.
Although some might  think these flowers are just dumped by Mother Nature inside the waters, these are her careful moves to adorn the sea. You cannot choose a better place for exotic flowers to live than these places situated away from the cities, obscure to the crowds. Moreover, this is natural inhabitation for herons, ducks who like to feed on flowers while the squirrels on trees feed on edible fruits.
Flowers are usually offered to the multitude of Gods and Goddesses that the people of Kerala have placed their faith in since time immemorial. They think this method of service as the most pleasing to the deity. For Vishu celebrations, the golden yellow flower Kanikkonna is hugely popular here and is regarded as the State Flower. Most of Kerala resembles dense plantations like those in the Amazon and therefore the Flame of the Forest flower that has its exclusive use in making hair oils is also very popular here. Others include Golden Trumpet, Thumpa poovu and of course shoe flowers like Hibiscus.
Kerala’s as well as the nation’s widely celebrated rain festival Onam celebrates rice harvest as well as blossoming of rain flowers by making colorful flower rangolis or other indigenous decorations. In South Indian restaurants all over the metropolitan belt, these kinds of decorations are a huge hit among the customers.
People all over Kerala take special interest in gardening and flowers besides enhancing beauty and surroundings are used as the perfect gift for most occasions. In fact, it is considered customary for South Indian ladies to adorn their hair with fragrant flowers. Young girls in Kerala are crazy about flowers too.
Serene life at its best, that’s Kerala, God’s own country!
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