Kuzhippallam Botanical Garden

Wanna spend some time with beautiful flowers and buy some great flowering and non-flowering plants for your home? Head to Kuzhippallam Botanical Garden, which is just four km from Balaramapuram in Trivandrum. Turn right at Kannaravila on Balaramapuram-Poovar road.

It is a beautiful valley being transformed into a beautiful valley of flowers. The garden has dozens of variety of roses, orchids, cacti, etc. In addition, you can also find saplings of mango, guava, and jack fruit trees.

The garden is not fully functional till now and a lot of work is going on while I was there. Then again, if you are going to the southern parts of Trivandrum, it is nice to spend some time here - and take home some saplings to add to your garden.

Mango Festival in Thiruvananthapuram

Head to Kanakakkunnu Palace grounds in Thiruvananthapuram between 16th and 26th of June and discover mangoes coming in thousand different sizes, shapes and colors.

Thiruvananthapuram Mango Festival, being organized by Kerala Horticulture Mission and Mango Growers Association is going to a treat for both your eyes and your taste buds.

Read: Ananthapuri Mango Fest, June 16-26, TVM

The event will have mangoes cultivated in different parts of the country. I hope there will be more than a thousand varieties of mangoes. Oh, no hope of tasting them all. It is simply impossible. However, it is possible to see them all.

There will also be mango products - jam, pickles, mango drinks, etc on display. So, if you happen to be in Trivandrum during these eleven days, do visit the Mango Festival (Mampazholsavam - a festival of mangoes).

Kids Wish Vishu with Painting Exhibition

Today I walked in to the museum compound of Trivandrum, to pleasantly discover a nice painting exhibition. Titled 'Nirangalude Vishukkani', this painting exhibition is Vishu Greetings for the city people by the kids of different schools in Trivandrum City.

The Vishu themed painting exhibition had some very nice paintings, which captured the festive mood and colorfulness. A group of ladies plucking flowers from Kanikkonna (Indian Laburnum) is a nice painting. The dressing reminds you of dress culture of the past.

There is also the painting of a girl in a garden. The girl wears silk pavada and blouse. Very nice picture indeed.

There are a dozen other fine paintings, which will surely attract your attention. If you are in the city, do get out and have a look at the works of these young talents.

Organized by The Photographic Society of Kerala, the painting exhibition became a venue for school students to exhibit their talents.

Visitors to the exhibition (hundreds of them) appreciated the talents of the kids. The child artists are: Aarcha Kumudan, Nandana Aagi, Arya Nandana, Akshay, Abijith, Shikha Sivaraman, Prithvi, Aparna, Vishnu, Sudev Suresh, Sandra, Anjana Raju, Gopika, Sruthi, Prathibha, Shilpa Sivaraman, Rejra Robi, Abhishek, Gouthami, Aarsha Suseendran, Soumya, Jishin and Anand. All of the artists are students of different schools in the city.

I wanted to personally congratulate every one of the young artists, but they were not there while I finally showed up.

The exhibition is on till 17th April.