An exceptional event!

I have always been amazed at the beauty and diversity of cactus flowers.  May be they have to cry out louder for pollinating insects than other flowers in wetter places.

Till recently I have never seen a live cactus flower.

All I have seen is only in pictures!!

Last week I got up in the morning and went to my balcony to water my rose plants. I do this meticulously everyday now, because summer heat in Hyderabad is around 42 degrees Celsius. I accidentally noticed a beautiful yellow flower in one of my cactuses. I have been having this cactus for more than 8 years now and I have never seen it flowering and for that matter I did not know that this guy is capable of flowering!

This, certainly, was a very pleasant surprise!

I have posted below some of the shots which I took of my cactus plant.

 

 

Dharasuram

Dharasuram is a tiny village located 4 km west of Kumbakonam, in the southern state of Tamil Nadu, India. The main attraction of this village is an ancient temple built by the Chola King, Rajaraja II. This temple is dedicated to lord Shiva and is called Airavateshwarar temple.

 

This temple is a storehouse of art and architecture. The vimana is 85 feet high. The front mandapam itself is in the form of a huge chariot drawn by horses. The temple has some exquisite stone carvings.

 

 

Darasuram temple was built by the Cholas between the 10th and 12th centuries CE and has a lot of similarities with that of Big temple of Tanjavur which was also built by the same king.

  

The main deity's consort Periya Nayaki Amman temple is situated adjacent to Airavateshwarar temple. The temple is a recognised UNESCO World Heritage monument.