icon of Hyderabad - Charminar

To me Gol Gumbaz, Taj Mahal and Charminar are three unique icons for their cities; first two are tombs and the last being a mosque. The word Charminar means four-towers.. as you see it has a very simple name..

Various theories regarding construction of Charminar-

• Charminar was built to commemorate the eradication of plague as Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah had prayed vowed to build a mosque.
• According to the XVII century French traveller Jean de Thévenot, Charminar was constructed in 1591 CE to commemorate the beginning of the second Islamic millennium.
• According to the historian Masud Hussain Khan, Charminar was completed in 1592 CE after the city of Hyderbad was created in 1591 CE.
• A book named 'Days of the Beloved' Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah constructed Charminar in 1589 CE on the very spot where he first glimpsed his future queen Bhagmati.

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Krishna Kamal

About 4 weeks ago only buds and fruits were seen on the passion fruit creeper but during last week's visit I got to seen fully bloomed flowers.

Its a pretty complex flower with a violet centre has even number of white petals... 10 to be precise,

These flowers attract ants and bees.. pollination taken care of.

There are variations of this flower..  the one with purple petals bears a purple colored fruit.

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passion fruit creeper

This creeper has climbed two floors high and spreading over the terrace now. The creeper has lot of flowers on it,

Lobed leaves are thick and strong.

One of the buds lit up soft light of rising sun.

Early stages of a bud blossoming into a flower. Somehow I could find a flower.

One of the fruits, still tender. It turns yellow when ripe.

The fruit has a glossy texture, the skin is neither soft nor hard. Below the skin is pulpy matter which is used for preparing a variety of food stuff. I knew it's pulp was is to make a drink by mixing it in sugared water. I heard the pulp is used as a filling for some types of chocolates. 

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pink aster

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creeping phlox

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