Thursday, July 11, 2013

Road trip Vignettes - Amid "Agave Land"!

Plusses of a road trip is the freedom it gives to enjoy the journey at your own pace. Many times we have noticed that journeys are more interesting than the actual destination itself. When these vignettes are captured on the lens, they remain cherished memories forever. We will share some of these in our blog and hope you like it.

We had been to Mango Range Estate for a weekend sojourn. (Please this post for details :- Monsoon Experience at Mango Range Estate, Nilgiris). The monsoon was in full swing and we took our regular route via Kanakapura. On the way back, as soon as we crossed Gundlupet in South India, we saw a strange landscape. 

It looked like a scene from Avatar or Star Wars!


I went near to see what exactly they were. To my surprise, it was the "Katthale" or "Bhutale" (in Kannada) bush - a variety of Agave - whose leaves were cut by the farmers leaving only the cone behind. This bush being thorny is used by farmers as a hedge in many parts of Karnataka. The leaves are dried and fibre is used for household use. 


A bit of research on Agave ( Wiki on Agave) gave me the information that it is an useful plant with many parts edible and plant having medicinal properties as well. Not sure whether it is used as an edible plant in Karnataka. 

Will check that out with framers next time around!

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