Yugadi: When nature colours Karnataka's landscape in vibrant hues

Yugadi marks the beginning of the new year for many communities across the state. As people prepare to celebrate the festival, nature echoes the occasion in its own way, with trees sprouting fresh leaves, seasonal blooms emerging, and the landscape turning green after winter, attracting bees, birds and insects.

While this period marks the seasonal transition, it also holds cultural significance and plays a vital role in the local ecosystem, linking tradition with nature.

Around this time, parts of southern Karnataka, especially Yelandur and Biligirirangana Hills are adorned with plumeria.

Popularly known as gosampige, devakanagile and pagoda locally, these flowers appear in shades of white, yellow, purple, orange and pink. Though the flowers do not produce nectar, they have scents and visual clues that dupe its pollinators.

Small, fragrant neem blossoms also appear around Yugadi. Traditionally used in the neem-jaggery mixture consumed during the festival, these flowers are used as condiments and for food flavouring. The extracts of these flowers are also used in aromatherapy and in the cosmetic industry.

The honge tree or the Pongamia pinnata, one of the widely found trees in Bengaluru and other parts of the state, also blooms during March-April.

Clusters of fragrant pink, white or mauve flowers, resembling strings of jasmine, line roadsides and attract pollinators, particularly bees. The flowers of this tree, commonly associated with Yugadi, are immortalised in the poem “Yuga Yugadi Kaledaru” by Da Ra Bendre. 

A golden shower tree in full bloom in Mangaluru.

The flame of the forest stands out as another symbol of the season. Found across the Western Ghats and in urban spaces, it draws attention with its bright crimson-orange flowers. Traditionally, the leaves of this tree were used to make plates while in recent years, the flowers are also used to make organic colours for Holi.

Culturally significant

The golden shower tree (Cassia fistula), locally known as kakke, is celebrated for its vibrant yellow flowers. Found along roadsides in Bengaluru, Mangaluru and other places, these trees hold cultural significance in Dakshina Kannada and Kerala, and their blossoms form an integral part of the Souramana Yugadi celebrations. They are used for decorating temples and hung at house entrances.

In parts of Mysuru and Bengaluru, akasha mallige or Indian cork tree blooms in summer, until the onset of monsoon, and again during November and December. Their white tubular flowers bloom at night and fall by morning, covering the ground beneath like a white carpet. 

Clusters of flowers adorning a Honge tree in Hosadurga.

Bengaluru also sees a transformation during Yugadi, thanks to the pink trumpet tree (Tabebuia rosea), native to Mexico and South America. These trees shed their leaves before flowering, leaving only clusters of trumpet-shaped pink blossoms, turning the city into a pink paradise. A related species, Tabebuia argentea, or golden trumpet, produces yellow flowers and is also seen in
the city.

For many, Yugadi is a festival of rituals, food and new beginnings. But amidst the noise and bustle of the urban life, they hardly notice the beautiful transformation of nature. Yet, from fresh greenery to blossoming flowers, the season and the festival together embody a seamless cycle of renewal.

(Translated from Kannada by Divyashri Mudakavi)

A flame of the forest.