The spectacular flowering of ‘Flame of the Forest (Butea monosperma, Fabaceae) commonly called ‘Polash’ in Bengali across the entire landscape of Purulia district (West Bengal, India ). This legume tree flowers during March/April and transforms the landscape into an amazing dreamland. This monumental natural beauty of Purulia is a great tourist attraction. With hundreds and thousands of the trees in full bloom with conspicuous red colour of the flower creates a mesmerizing illusion impact of the forests and hill on fire from a distance. Three different colour variations are seen. The most common colour is red followed by occasional yellow varieties and the white-flowered are the rarest in nature.
The spectacular beauty of the landscape thus transformed in March/April across the district is an unique annual natural phenomena. This also clearly illustrates the deep convection between humans abs their immediate environment. The floral book coincides with the annual festival of colour ‘Holi’ celebrated across the state and the nation and also overseas to welcome Spring. This floral depiction has been narrated in the Bangla literature through the works of literary icons of Bengal such as Noble Laureate Rabindranath Tagore, Sarathchandra Chattyopadhyay, Bibhtibhusan Bandyopadhyay, Tarashankar Bandyopadhyay, Bonoful, Sunil Gangyopadhyay, Shankha Ghosh, Shakti Chattopadhyay, and many others. The annual spectacle has for generations stimulated poetic and artistic expressions among the human counterpart of this monumental ecosystem. The beautifully coloured landscape is somewhat reminiscent of the Fall Colour of maple leaves in parts of the North American continent (Canada and USA) for an illustrative comparison. Indeed the floral spectacle is a mesmerizing natural event capturing human mind and consciousness to a divine level. The awe inspiring spectacular natural beauty is a monumental experience to cherish for years in our minds.
In addition to Polash, other Fabaceae family members bearing beautiful bright red flowers such as the coral tee (Erythrinia variegata), gulmohor (Delonix regia), Krishnachura (Caesalpinia pulcherrima), Asoka (Saraca indica), simul (Bombax ceiba) also flower at the same time. All these species of trees contribute significantly to naturally beautify the local landscape, dominated by Polash trees. The scenery is once in a lifetime opportunity to enjoy the abundant beauty of our majestic nature in its monumental colour palette. It is therefore important to conserve such unique ecosystems with unparalleled natural beauty for our next generations.