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Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Flower Street at Little India Klang - Part 2 Flower Garlands and Bermuda Grass


Flower Street in Little India Klang is like a florist centre. Besides jasmine flowers, we can also find cut flowers, bouquets, wreaths and other types of flower arrangements. It is indeed an enjoyable experience walking along the sidewalk and in and out the stores. For me, it is a valuable experiential lesson about Indian/Hindu culture and traditions.

The wreath above is made of multi-colour chrysanthemums, roses and ferns. Probably this wreath is for a celebration, e.g. opening ceremony?

“Flower Street at Little India Klang - Part 2 Flower Garlands”, a copyrighted post, was written for My Nice Garden blog by Autumn Belle @ http://www.mynicegarden.com/ on October 26th, 2011.




A flower garland made of chrysanthemums and orchids.
Can you see the light green dyed chrysanthemums?


This garland has red roses, white chrysanthemums, betel leaves and also Polianthes tuberosa flowers (bunga sundal malam). It is extremely fragrant. Roses and P. tuberosa are flowers carrying the scents of love and romance, hence perhaps these are for marital bliss and wedding rituals.

As we know, roses are opened throught the day while P.tuberosa blossoms open at night when they are the most fragrant. In Asia, we have a certain fascination with P. tuberosa.

It is called WanXiangYu (晚香玉) or "night fragrant jade", meaning "flower as precious as jade and becoming fragrant at night), or YeLaiXiang 夜來香 ("fragrance that comes at night") or YueXiaXiang 月下香 ( "fragrance under the moon"). In Indonesia it is called "bunga sedap malam", meaning night fragrant flower. (Source: Wikipedia)

Can anyone tell me what this garland is used for?



This garland is different from the usual ones.

It has "Durva Grass". Hindu devotees offer this garland to Lord Ganesha (Ganesh, Ganapati, Ganesa), the Elephant God. According to legend, there was once a ruthless demon that cause havoc not only to the people on Earth and also to the gods in heaven. Unable to contain the demon, they seek the help of Sri Ganesh who had a big belly. He captured the demon by swallowing it whole. This caused a burning sensation in his stomach and he was in agony. Many remedies were offered to treat the condition but nothing worked. A wise sage suggested collecting 21 stems of durva grass and offering it to Lord Ganesh who was subsequently cured. Until to this day, it is believed that when you offer durva grass to Lord Ganesh, your heart's desires will be fulfilled.

The scientific name for durva grass is Cynodon dactylon, common name Bermuda Grass. Most of us relate bermuda grass to sports and golf courses. In Hinduism and Indian culture, this grass also has medicinal uses besides the above mentioned.



These garlands have chrysanthemums, orchids and roses. It reminds me of the TV series Fantasy Island and also Hawaii and the exotic South Pacific islands.

Tourists who are visiting Malaysia can experience our rich Indian cultural heritage by visiting Sri Maha Mariamman Temple (oldest in Malaysia) in Jalan Tun H.S. Lee of Kuala Lumpur China Town. You can find the flower vendors selling these garlands there too.


Chrysanthemum flowers being strung into flower garlands.



The nice lady who was stringing the chrysanthemums in the earlier picture.  Betel (sireh) and neem leaves can also be added to the floral arrangements depending on your purpose and specific requirements.




Where do you usually go when you buy flowers?

Happy Holidays and,
HAPPY DEEPAVALI !

21 comments:

  1. Ile kwiatów i pracy kosztują te piękne ozdoby. Pozdrawiam

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  2. Those are big flower garlands, must be heavy too.

    In Metro Manila people go to a street called Dangwa where fresh flowers are sold cheaper than in other places. Fresh flowers are in demand this week because of the coming All Saints day and All Souls day when people start flocking to the cemeteries to remember their departed relatives.

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  3. Like Hawaii's Lei!
    How beautiful your posts.

    thank you for your kind & thoughtful visits and comments at my blog. They are valued.


    Aloha from Waikiki;

    Comfort Spiral



    > < } } ( ° >

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  4. Beautiful flowers! I am always amazed at how they make so many of these for these special days.

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  5. That's a lot of blooms to make those garlands! I 2nd SR in saying our flowers skyrocket in price a week before November 1 for the All Saints/Souls Day. It is more expensive now because our main producing area in the highlands have been hit by typhoons, landslides, etc. But i am not buying any, i just offer prayers for our departed. And i am happy we have a long weekend.

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  6. Oh they must have a wonderful scent to behold! How long do they stay looking fresh? They remind me of daisy chains from days gone by. We would make small versions of these and wear them in our hair.
    Beautiful!
    Thanks for commenting on my blog and I hope your daughter has/had a great birthday this month!

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  7. Those garlands must be for the bride/groom?

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  8. How lovely and unusual! A joy to view life through your eyes. Thank you.

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  9. Happy deepavali to you too. Such beautiful garlands and such a lot of work to make them. I never buy fowers I depend on my garden to provide me with fresh bouquets. And in winter I depend on my flowering houseplants for floral displays.

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  10. Ooh, Autumn Belle, the garlands and wreaths are absolutely beautiful! makes me want to visit!

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  11. Interesting story about Lord Ganesha with the Durva Grass. Oh nice pixz of the various flowers.

    Love to watch that TV series when Tattoo shouted in 'The plane, the plane' and ran up the tower to ring the bell.

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  12. Oh my goodness--what a beautiful, colorful wreath! The scent must be incredible, too!

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  13. A wonderful series ... every single photo is a pleasure .... I like your photos very well .... great color and quality ...
    LG: Karin

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  14. beautiful photos...of beautiful flowers...I would enjoy the fragrant ones...had never thought of using Bermuda Grass...so I learned something...thank you for sharing!

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  15. Beautiful garlands! I enjoyed learning about the use of different flowers and Bermuda grass. Happy Holidays! :)

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  16. Happy Deepavali! We have a large Diwali festival near here that is a lot of fun to go to every year.

    The flowers are beautiful! I had an Indian wedding as well as an American wedding, and my now husband's relatives made lots of strings of garlands to decorate with. Part of the wedding ceremony involved placing garlands around each other's necks. As part of the humor we had to pretend to try to avoid getting 'caught' by the garland. It was a lot of fun!

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  17. Great captures of Little India.

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  18. I miss this festive season. So colourful and meriah.

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  19. Giga says: How much labor cost of flowers and the beautiful decorations.

    Giga, so nice and special to have your comments in Polish.

    Solitude Rising, yeah, in Malaysia, the cost of flowers vary from place to place. The flowers sold in flower streets are usually cheaper than those in florist shops.

    Cloudia, I love the leis in your beautiful Hawaii.

    Sage Butterfly, I feel like a child again if I wear these garlands.

    Andrea, I'll miss you during the long weekend when you are back to your province on holiday. Do bring back lots of photos. Wishing you a safe and smooth journey home.

    Rosey, These fragrant garlands can last for days to a week when it is hung on pictures or statues of deities. They still look good as dried flowers. My daughter didn't have a Halloween birthday party, but she had a few celebrations.

    Jama, the P. tuberosa garland looks like the bride and groom garlands I saw in Bollywood movies.

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  20. Joey, sometimes I buy them for to perfume my home.

    Melanie, I am not a Hindu, but I join in the fun when invited to open houses by Hindu friends. I too prefer not to pluck my garden flowers. Buying cut flowers is an option when I need extra ones as gifts or prayer offering.

    Diana, do come visit Malaysia, the land of festivals!

    Bananaz, yes, yes, your mention of Tatoo shouting "The plane the plane" really brought back a lot of fond childhood memories. Tatoo is so cute!

    Plant Postings, yes, these are Fragrant Festival Flowers!

    Karin, you are so sweet, thanks!

    Theanne and Dianne, actually I thought it was wheat grass. Luckily I asked the flower vendor what it was. I'll look at bermuda grass in a whole new light after this.

    Indie, I can imagine how very enchanting, magical and blissful your wedding day must have been. How very interesting!

    One, I like to go to Little India during Deepavali season to bask in the feel of the festive atmosphere.

    Diana (MKD), whenever you are homesick, do visit our blogs. Hope this will cheer you up.

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  21. Interesting Legend about Lord Ganesha, Even i didn't know about it having lived in India all my life. Thx for sharing. Love the bright colours @ Chrysanthemums. They are gorgeous n each garland is a masterpc so painstakingly woven together.
    Happy Deepawali to you too though a bit late. cheers! Radhika

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