Summer Haiku 2008: FULL MOON

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Two long hours
under the chinar:
lost full moon

--R.K.SINGH

Gwil W said...: go on then, i'll ask it -
what the devil is a chinar?; May 26, 2008 at 2:24 AM
Ram Krishna Singh said...: Chinar is plane tree, deciduous and native to temperate regions. A genus of platanus, it has been a favourite shade tree. It's leaves are hand palm shaped, almost 10 inches in length with long stalks. The flowers are borne in dense spherical heads.

It is most elegant and exuberant during autumn, when the leaves turn red before falling off.

In Kashmir, it is associated with people's life and culture. In fact it is their main living heritage. It is considered a symbol of goddess Bhawani (Divine Mother). It has also been used by meditators for mediation.

A chinar tree is said to take 100 years to mature. Over 10,000 chinar trees in Kashmir are more than 400 years old.

R K; May 28, 2008 at 11:57 PM