eUgen Series 5: Golden shower/ Indian Laburnam Stories
New year celebrations in the month of March/ April in many states of India and countries in the region mark the vernal equinox, which is often used by astronomers to measure a solar year. The new year celebration in Kerala during this period is known as Vishu (in Sanskrit means ‘equal’- day and night are roughly of equal length). ‘Vishukani’-’ that which is seen first on the vishu day’- in the early hours is an important practice of this festival. It is believed that seeing ‘ vishukani’ would bring prosperity to people throughout the Year. One of the most important and essential items in “vishukani’ is the gorgeous golden YELLOW flowers of “Kanikonna” ( gloden shower), which is in full bloom during this season. Noticeably, most of the other items in ‘Vishukani’ also are YELLOW in colour.
Kanikonna/Golden shower/ Indian Laburnam/Amaltas/ Cassia fistula/Fabaceae- Native to India and South East Asia. Grows in both tropoical and subtropical regions. Used in herbal medicine. Ayurveda calls ‘Cassia fistula’ as ‘aragvadha’- means ‘which eliminates the disease’. State flower of Kerala. National tree and flower of Thailand. Called ‘Golden Shower’ because the flowering is profuse, with trees being fully covered with golden yellow flowers.
YELLOW represents, in general, energy, optimism and joy. Yellow has the highest luminance value ( percieved brightness of a colour) in the spectrum. Our eyes process yellow colour first and thats why it is used in cautionary signs. Colours influence our psychological functioning (Jaleel, Yunus and Said, 2012). Researches show that Yellow is predominantly associated with Joy (Linndbord and Friberg, 2015) and factors such as individual experience, physical sensations, embodied experience and semantic pathways (Joenauskaite, et al., 2019) can influence this association.
#kanikonna #Vishu #vishukani #colourtheory#ColourTherapy #joy #keralatourism #indianlaburnum#cassiafistula #plantphotography #yellow #vishukani#keralaflowers #thevkvk #medicieffect #medicinalplants#amaltas
