The Valley of Flowers references.
this is where I need to live too :D
inside a tree, in a valley of flowers.
this research is driving me crazy!! I'm constanly finding new things that are totally awe inspiring.
ZZJANG!
wanderlust is happening. But i will not leave to the himalayas.
instead i will create an ipad app.
WOOHOO
:D
anyway
research about the valley of flowers.
So I was seeing the Flower personification as these keywords-
beauty, abundance, romantics, giggling, flowery (hee)
feminine- bhakti.
been reading about hindu flowers.
So cyoote.
ashok means 'one without grief'
its said to alleviate people from grief..sita cries under it to soothe herself waiting for rama.
parijita falls in love with the sun, is scorned and so becomes a flower that only blooms at nigth because she can't stand the sight of her lover.
sheds her petals like tear drops at sunrise!!
and we all know the significance of the lotus so i'm not even going to get into that!
champas adorn krishna's ears. malati adorn womens braids,
vakul blossoms only when sprinkled by nectar from the mouth of a beautiful woman,
kamadeva, the indian god of desire, uses flowers like champa and chamelis as his arrows to make people fall in love. :D
SO MUCH LOVE!!
another eenteresting local legend about the valley of flowers in the himalayas, is that people
believe it's inhabited by fairies. and that if you wander around, you can get abducted by fairies hiding amongst the flowers.
and and and! remember in the ramayan when lakshman falls ill, hanuman is sent to the himalayas from lanka to get a certain herb to heal him? And hanuman doesnt know what to do so he just picks up the whole mountain?
Same place! its said to have the most amount of medicinal flowers and plants!!
eeeeenteresting indeed.
so I started to imagine the valley of flowers to be a place that's a mixes these myths
with the Lotus Eater myth. Remember that?
A space of oblivion and languor.
of sweet nothings.
the Odyssey IX says
"I was driven thence by foul winds for a space of 9 days upon the sea, but on the tenth day we reached the land of the Lotus-eaters, who live on a food that comes from a kind of flower. Here we landed to take in fresh water, and our crews got their mid-day meal on the shore near the ships. When they had eaten and drunk I sent two of my company to see what manner of men the people of the place might be, and they had a third man under them. They started at once, and went about among the Lotus-Eaters, who did them no hurt, but gave them to eat of the lotus, which was so delicious that those who ate of it left off caring about home, and did not even want to go back and say what had happened to them, but were for staying and munching lotus with the Lotus-eaters without thinking further of their return; nevertheless, though they wept bitterly I forced them back to the ships and made them fast under the benches. Then I told the rest to go on board at once, lest any of them should taste of the lotus and leave off wanting to get home, so they took their places and smote the grey sea with their oars."[1]
So there we go!
the valley of flowers.
a place where maya and talisma
wander into. At first enamoured and overwhelmed by all the beauty. Giggling flower fairies totally in love with them
giving them all the abundance in the world, but so ignored post the taqseem that they don't want these two children to leave.
and they find themselves unable to escape.
Now, for the fairy feefle.
I'm thinking, that I'm a little tired of conventional depictions of fairies.
mainly because it's a little predictable and overdone
also because it's a very victorian depiction. very western over tea and scones types.
so i started thinking...indian fairies.
and pari is a literal translation of angel.
however Parees are also depicted with like lofy white feather wings and all
too victorias secret.
an Apsara is like a nymph and also known to seduce *wiggles eyebrows *
and thats what these flowers in the valley do.
not seduce in a sexual sense though because this is a kids book and I don't want to go to jail.
So i started to look at pictures at apsaras and they are quite beautifully depicted me thinks.
So lovely :)
and i started to think about other such Indian elements that could bring in that feeling.
and came to -
Old indian actresses.
Madhubala
definitely fairy material yo!
except adorned and decked with flowers. :)
YUMMY
