Happy Vishu! Have a Happy and Prosperous New Year!

The Kani Konna or Golden Shower tree and its blooms or Cassia Fistula (scientific name) blooms as the time for Kerala’s second most important cultural festival, Vishu approaches, which falls today, April 14. Vishu coincides with the Malayalam month Medam 1 on the Kollavarsham (Malayalam calendar), and used to be observed as the New Year falling on the Vernal Equinox for many centuries, before the calendar was changed and Chingam 1 was made the technical New Year. But still, Vishu is celebrated as the New Year in Kerala. The Kani Konna is popularly used as a part of the “Vishu Kani”, the ritul first thing seen on the New Year. The Kani Konna is also Kerala’s state flower.