The ever-familiar Kadam flower

When the monsoon season arrives with the cloudy sky of Ashadh, decorating the landscape with its beauty, the one whose appearance spreads the most fascination in rural villages is the Kadam flower. Kadam is called the messenger of the monsoon. After the dusty summer heat, this beautiful spherical flower smiles on the branches of the trees at the first touch of rain. The flower looks exactly like a small tennis ball. Its inner part is bright yellow or orange and hundreds of white petals are spread all around like a cut. When viewed from a distance, it seems as if small golden balls are hanging behind the green leaves. Not only in its appearance, Kadam has a soft, sweet fragrance, which makes the wet air of the monsoon even more romantic and pleasant.

Kadam flower has a very deep relationship with Bengali culture, literature and monsoon celebrations. The veneration of the Kadam tree has repeatedly returned to the poems and songs of poets and writers. The tradition of playing with Kadam flowers or giving them as gifts to loved ones is very old, especially among rural teenagers. Not only for beauty, the bark and leaves of the Kadam tree are also used to make traditional Ayurvedic medicines. Although Kadam trees have decreased in urban areas due to the rush of machinery, the Kadam flowers of the monsoon still bring an unshakable sense of peace to our hearts.