I am delighted to share my friend Brig. Chowdhry’s wonderful experience which I feel is nothing less than a miracle and as said by Einstein ~ “There are two ways to live: you can live as if nothing is a miracle; you can live as if everything is a miracle”. On my request the Brig. asked me to go ahead and spread the happiness with all my blogger friends. In his own words -
“It was 16 Aug 12, a day before the Amavasya*, as I got out into the garden early morning, the air was charged with tremendous energy and I could feel that something very special was going to happen that day. One had potted, very
reluctantly a cacti looking plant that Amole, the Gardener, brought some six months or so ago, saying that it was lying around nearby, evidently thrown and discarded by someone. He said it was quite a unique plant and bloomed just once a year and that too only at night.
I hadn’t quite taken to the plant initially but as time went by I did make a connection with this plant and it started responding beautifully. The first indicator is generally the leaves and they really started glistening.
And then something quite unusual happened. It was from the edge of two leaves that a branch each emanated culminating in an elongated bud.
To cut the story short, the miracle took place within a period of an hour. You can see the buds at 8 pm and then the flowers in their full glory at 9 pm. The experience was so overpowering that it left you totally mesmerized. In short the time interval between the bud stage and the full blown bloom was just an hour. Mind you it could have happened in a matter of just a few minutes for I had come inside the house, not being able to handle the very empowering energy prevailing. It was a gardener’s thrill of a life time.
Only God could have created such a beauty and I am also told it is very lucky to be able to witness the bloom. For one, you have to make a special effort to watch the flower bloom since it occurs only at night and then, very sadly the whole thing is over by the morning the flowers totally fold-up recalling Edna St. Vincent Millay famous saying:-
“My candle burns at both ends, it will not last the night.
But ah my friends and oh my foes, it gives a lovely light”
Cheers and thanks
Excerpts from Wikipedia:
1. * Amavasya means Moonless night when there is a natural upsurge of energies in the human body on these days. As a result, in the tradition, Amavasya (New Moon) and Poornima (Full Moon) days are held as special days for the spiritual seeker.
2. Brahma Kamal is the mythical white lotus that has dominated the imagination of mythological experts from generations. The Brahma Kamal is supposed to grow in the highest parts of the Himalayas and that holds true even today. This flower indeed grows in the Himalayan forests.
The fact that the above event happened in Pune located in the plains is by itself unique



It feels special to experience a miracle of life and growth
I am happy you liked the flowers bloom! Kind regards.
Awesome
I am happy you liked the post
Cheers.
Just awesomw beauty, glad you caught it. Thanks….and yes only God could create that
Welcome and I am so glad you liked it! With kind regards.
Wow! Truly amazing! And such a beautiful flower
Glad you liked
Kind regards.
Wah wah! Loved the post. And photos say it all. Thanks a lot for sharing.
hi Nandini … glad you liked it
Thanks for the article – how awesome!
Glad you liked it Lessandra!
The”Brahm Kamal”, what i feel conveys that- ” Its not the span of life which matters but of course the quality, beauty and purpose does”.Extremely delighted being a botany student, an inspiring to mankind article. Regards, Rajesh.
Dear Rajesh,
I am so honored by your visit and the beautiful thoughts. Thanks my friend best of luck. Warm regards.
Hi Christy I am glad you liked it.
Regards
So neat! That would have been amazing to watch! What a beautiful plant.
Wow… that must be an overwhelming experience, to watch a flower bloom. I never though it was possible that such a flower existed! I recalled stating an analogy in my blog that my dream was unlike a flower that starts with a bud and gradually becomes a flower because its realization wasn’t gradual but in an instant. Boy, was I wrong haha! Such a flower exists! Thanks for sharing this.
Hi I am delighted to read you wonderful response. I guess it matches with the energy of the amazing bloom. Thank you so much. Regards.
I was so touched to read this Dilip. I can not express how deeply touched, to read the Brig’s words, reminding us of the words of Einstein, that we can live as if everything is a miracle. And I had never heard that quote but it hit me right in the heart, and I thought, yes, that is the way I wish to live my life. And I do to an extent, but not all the way, and not consciously. I will intend on doing this.
And I wondered, after I read this, what kind of daily miracle is Dilip going to show us, through the Brig this time? And I read on, and was so touched by the simplistic way that the Brig explained the flower opening up, and the feeling of being overwhelmed so much that he had to go inside for a moment. I felt as I read those words I could feel that overwhelming sensation. And I thought, surely, surely, I can live life more like this and if I do, what kind of person would I be to those around me? Like a breath of fresh air. For that is what Brig’s words were to me. Will you please tell him?
THank you, Dilip, for sharing this.
Loved to read your beautiful response coming straight from the heart. Oh yes I will surely forward the link to the Brig
this lovely comment. We must spread the joy.
Thanks and kind regards.
The Brig. Chowhury has acknowledged your thoughtful good wishes – “My good wishes to all your bloggers, particularly to the one mentioned by you in your mail”.
Kind regards to you and thanks Bethany.
Thank you for passing that along Dilip.
That was quite interesting. What a strange plant! So nice to see such a rare event.
Binky my friend I am always delighted with your nice words
Thanks
Such a glorious bloom, so delicate and lacy. Margie
Thanks Margie I am so glad you liked the bloom
Here’s some more info about the Brahmakamalam for those who are interested:
http://whenthelotusblooms.tumblr.com/post/9122084775/the-lotus-in-when-the-lotus-blooms-is-not-your
Regards,
Geetha
We had a plant when we lived on the plantations in Coonoor. It is indeed a wondrous experience to witness that flower bloom!
I can imagine what it must be. Actually I am thrilled by your visit knowing you to be a blogger par excellence. Thank you and kind regards.
I don’t that I have ever seen a more stunning flower and the poem is perfect. This really brightens my day and leaves me in awe of our beautiful planet!
I am so glad you liked the flower. Yes we must care for our beautiful planet. Kind regards.
Dear Sir,
Thank you for this post about a very rare flower. I love the quote!
A few months ago, I read the book ‘When The Lotus Blooms’ by Kanchana Krishnan Ayyar and the leitmotif of this well-written book is the Brahmakamalam.
Details of the book are available here:
http://kanchibooks.com/blog/?p=1
The author mentioned in the book that Brahmakamalam plant can never be bought by anybody or anywhere and that one has to be ‘blessed’ to receive it from somebody, somewhere.
After reading the book, I happened to unearth a couple of blogs on this flower and here they are:
http://mumbai-magic.blogspot.in/2008/08/brahmakamal-in-mumbai-simply-amazing.html
http://parayilat.blogspot.in/2008/08/visit-of-queen.html
Thanks and regards,
Geetha
Awesome response and again enriching. Checked all the links and found them super especially the quote “…it was like what Omar Khayyam said in the Rubaiyat: ‘Like dew upon the desert’s dusty face lighting an hour or two is gone”.
Thanks Geetha
Thank you, Sir!
I think a slight correction may have to be made in the quote though: It could be “Like snow….. is gone.”
http://www.library.cornell.edu/colldev/mideast/okhym.htm
Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam ( Edward FitzGerald’s Translation)
The Worldly Hope men set their Hearts upon
Turns Ashes—or it prospers; and anon,
Like Snow upon the Desert’s dusty Face
Lighting a little Hour or two—is gone.
Regards,
Geetha
Ya it does sound better. Thanks & regards.
Sheer bliss… a true wonder!
Simply we can wow!!
i have read about this on google, here are some details:-
Mythical References To The Brahma Kamal:
The Lotus Of Brahma: The names of this magical flower can be translated to mean, ‘the lotus of Bramha’. Lord Brahma, the creator of the Universe, is always depicted as sitting on a huge lotus and holding one in his hand. Another name for Lord Brahma is Kanja or the one born out of the water. So, schools of thought say that Brahma was born from the navel of Lord Vishnu while others say that he was born from a huge white lotus that we call the Brahma Kamal.
The Life Giving Lotus: The story of the birth of Ganesha is a popular one. When Shiva attached the head of an elephant on Ganesha’ s body, he was bathed with water that was sprinkled from a Brahma Kamal. That is why this lotus is given the status of a live-restoring flower of the gods. To evaluate it in terms of modern science, this flower has many medicinal properties.
The Golden Lotus: When the Pandavas were in exile in the forests, Draupadi accompanied them. She was constantly tormented by painful memories of her insult in the Kaurava court. The hardships of a forest life also took its toll on her. One evening she saw a beautiful lotus float away in the stream. After she saw this ‘golden’ lotus bloom, she felt a strange happiness that was almost spiritual. But the lotus withered as quickly as it had bloomed. Draupadi sent her most devoted husband Bhima to look for it and on his quest for the flower he met Hanuman (Bhima’s elder brother). As a lotus is usually pink, ‘golden’ may mean a shimmering ‘white’. This story too is a reference to this mysterious flower.
Wish Fulfilling: It is long held belief that anybody who sees this rare flower blooming will have all his or her wishes fulfilled. It is not easy to watch it bloom because it blooms in the late evening and stays only for a couple of hours. Also the fact that it is supposed to bloom once in 14 years makes it a very rare sight.
He is the KING OF FLOWERS. And Brig. Chaudhary is very lucky to have this Flower in his Garden.
Regards
Vedant
Wow what an interesting account Vedant. Very comprehensive. Thanks.
and also this happenend in pune! what a co incidence..
Oh yes
thts so amazingly beautiful! do u know on my recent visit to India, there’s a same plant at my in laws place and the day we started back,the previous night I saw 3 buds blooming. It is really a rare and blessed sight!
Wow Soumya … how luck you were to witness this amazing beauty. Thanks.
Just one word: WOW!
wow!! many thnx for sharing!!
wow what a beauty the flower is.
It must have been a delighful experience to witness that.
it’s amazing how quickly that bloomed. thanks for sharing the experience
it’s very unlikely I will ever witness that.
Yes Amira it indeed is beautiful
Thank you, for sharing us this wonderful experience, dillpnaidu.
Glad you liked it!