Kayampoo
‘ Kayampoo kannil vidarum…kamaladalam kavilil viriyum..’the Malayalam film song goes like this…the song is cherished by malayalies through out the world that describes the enchanting beauty of poet’s sweet heart.The dark blue flower Kayampoo blooms in sweet heart’s eyes…poets often call lord Srikrishna as Kayampoovarnan.The flower is so cute that it inspired poets, as violets in English poetry . We feel as frozen dreams upon the twigs. Words Worth thinks of Violets,
”A Violet by the mossy stone
Half hidden from the eye”
just as Violets, Kayampoos hide themselves from our eyes’.
the strange blue colour and abstractness of the flower appeal to our soul.
o ,Memecylon Malabaricum
The Kasavu plant, Malam thetti or Memycylon Malabaricum is an evergreen shrub which grows in hilly and rocky areas. Kasavu flourishes on rocky soil and hedges on the hillocks.The leaves of this plant are thick and leathery.Formerly yellow colour was extracted from the leaves of the plant.It is believed to be used as a clothe dye in the remote past. Kayampoo flowers are found in clusters, arise from the axis of the stem and heavenly blue in colour.
,Memecylon Malabaricum
Kasavu is endemic to western ghats,south and central Sahyadris.
still I rememember the old days,, the days of child hood..We improvised toy guns..we used” Mulliyilakkuru’ as a bullet in” Pavitta thokku.’ The toy gun made by cutting thin hollow bamboo. When i shared this, a friend from Travancore region shared that they used theKasavum kuru as bullet in their guns.
kayampoo,Memecylon Malabaricum
The ethno medicinal plant is used for the treatment of bacterial infections,inflamation of skin,.indigestion and skin diseases including Herpes.The plant yields a gum called Katira.
Kayampoo is an evergreen shrub of Indian nativity. As.Rosetti says ”As violets. so be I recluse and sweet””Kayampoo is also recluse and sweet.
kayampoo,Memecylon Malabaricum