‘Brahma Kamalam’ made a surprising appearance in the Bonsai garden of Lakshmi Bharathi, a resident of Varadaraja Nagar in Tirupati on Saturday night.

The blossoming of the flower is a rare event, given the fact that it is believed to be endemic to the Himalayan region. However, it is nothing new to Ms. Bharathi, a member of the Bonsai Club, as the flower did bloom in her courtyard on October 10, 2007.

The sapling was given much earlier to her by a priest at Kedarnath temple during her Himalayan yatra. The flower did not bloom for several years in spite of her best efforts to nurture it, make her lose hope. “But one day in 2007, it was suddenly in full bloom. After that, it blossomed only now,” Ms. Bharathi told The Hindu. The snow white flower has a sweet fragrance and is known to grow only in the pure water and pristine environment at the Himalayas. “We pour water purified through Reverse Osmosis technology to this plant,” she added. The rare flower is drawing neighbours and strangers alike to her courtyard.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> National> Andhra Pradesh / by A. D. Rangarajan / Tirupati – October 13th, 2014