Photos

Upon our arrival at Samode Palace in the Central Indian province of Kerala, this lady was laying out marigold blossoms in a pattern on the floor of the courtyard...

When we had taken our rooms, freshened up and came down for that evening's dinner, we strolled out on the terrace and looked below to see that this simple pattern she had started had grown to fill the entire courtyard. It was such a memorable vision. Come to think of it I wish I had had my camera with me, but alas, I did not.

Nevertheless, it is etched upon my mind and I am happy to have this image as the humble beginnings of what could only be described as a masterpiece.

Interestingly enough, the designs she made included that of a swastika, a symbol unfortunately affiliated with Nazism in our minds in the West. Here is an exerpt from Wikipedia on the subject:

""The swastika (from Sanskrit स्वस्तिक svastika, from su "well", and asti "being", thus "good fortune" or "well-being") is an equilateral cross with its arms bent at right angles in either left-facing (卍) or right-facing (卐) direction. The swastika is a sacred symbol in Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism. The Hindu version is often decorated with a dot in each quadrant.

However, in the Western world, it is most widely known and used as a symbol of Nazism (the Hakenkreuz) and this political association has eclipsed its historical status as the fylfot, a form of the Christian cross. ""

As for the photography here. I just caught sight of this woman while passing her by as we were moving toward the reception are. No tripod. No flash. No cropping. Just scanned it in. No filters. No pp. One woman, one flowerport, one bannister... lots of marigolds!