The Beauty of the Konkan

The Ixora is seen everywhere in the west coast of India. The flowers range in colour from red to orange to pink to white and yellow. It is used by the people of the region for decoration and for worship. An interesting story about the origin of its name goes like this: An early Portuguese botanist saw a woman taking these flowers to the temple and asked her whose temple it was. The woman replied "Ishwara", which is another name of Shiva, one of the Hindu Trinity. The Portuguese recorded it faithfully in his language,"Ixora".