Angel's Trumpet - Beautiful But Poisonous Hanging Flower

On the way to my office daily I used to see beautiful hanging flowers roadside. They were very attractive trumpet shape flowers and their petals were hanging from the stem. When it starts blooming it is white in color and when fully blooms, turns to peach color. One day I just plucked a flower and enjoying its beauty while waiting for the bus. But after some time my hands started itching and red rashes appeared. I could not do any office works that day and wondering suddenly what happened to me.  Afterwards I realized that my skin is allergic to that flower. I got some relief after applying first aid. After coming home I searched the web for some information on that flower and got to know very interesting facts.

This flower is called Angel's trumpet (Trumpet=a musical instrument) and scientific name is Brugmansia. Its a flowering shrub. Flowers are in variety of colors white, peach, yellow and orange. In Kannada it is called Dattura (ದತ್ತೂರ)or Tuttoori Hoovu (ತುತ್ತೂರಿ ಹೂವು). Entire plant and flower is listed in world's poisonous plants. They are native to South America. Toxin in the plant can cause diarrhea, nausea, confusion and dizziness.  An overdose can be fatal, or lead to coma with permanent damage to the eyes, heart and brain. Instances of death were also reported. Thats why I wonder why butterflies, bees and even insects wont come near those flowers. 

Many people love to grow the plant in their garden because of beautiful flowers. But they have to wear gloves while touching the plant. But now I never dare to touch the flower. 

Kempambudhi Park - Fun Place For Kids

It was a lazy and boring Sunday afternoon. Hubby dear was sleeping after a heavy lunch. I had finished all my works and thinking how to kill the time. I could not see hubby sleeping, woke him up and forced him to take me out. We planned to go to Kempambudhi Park in Hanumanth Nagar. 

We had no clue where exactly the park is. Took the help of GPS but still missed the route many times. So now with the guidance of localites we reached the park. 

When I entered the park I was really surprised. I had no idea that park will be so big, beautiful and neatly maintained. It took almost two hours to see the entire park. There are many reasons why this park stands out from other parks in namma Bengaluru. There are various attractions to entertain kids. If you are living in south Bengaluru and want to see your kids enjoying in weekend then Kempambudhi park is the right place. 

Kids Train :

Main attraction of the park is kids train which operates continuously after 4 PM. The train takes almost 20 minutes to cover entire park. Train track is almost 20 ft above the ground level. Kids will really have fun sitting inside the train and watching the beauty of the park. One elder person is allowed inside the train with a kid. When I visited the park ticket price was 30Rs/person.  

Statues of Jnanapeetha Awardees:

This is one more attraction of the park. Statues of all eight Jnanapeetha awardees from Karnataka have kept in line. Literature, plays, novels of respective awardees have been displayed on the stone. It feels so proud that Kannada is the second language to get highest Jnanapeetha awards after Hindi. 

 Replica models of Animals:

Replica models of animals like dinosaurs, deer, butterfly, birds, Pharaoh etc can be found in the park. Models of giant dinosaurs attract people. Apart from these kids enjoy other playing stuffs like sea- saw etc.

Near the park you can find a very big lake and it is called Kempambudhi lake. It is one of the

oldest lakes of Bengaluru. But now it is dried up. Except mud and grass you cant see anything. No sign of water anywhere. BBMP is saying it will take measures to bring back lake's glory. Hope one day lake will be full of water.

Kempegowda Tower :

At the starting point of the lake you can find Kempegowda Tower. Bengaluru has four Kempegowda towers and this is one among them.