The trumpet-shaped blooms are hard to miss. With the vivid red standing out against dark green foliage, they command attention.
The chembarathi, or the hibiscus, is woven into the Malayali’s everyday landscape as well as mindscape. From roadsides and vacant plots to gardens and temple grounds, its blooms are a familiar sight across Keralam.
There is something ‘homely’ about the flower. But common as it may be, the chembarathi has a charm that never quite fades.
Simplicity makes it more striking. One just needs to plant a stem segment. Its ability to take root in almost any soil, without any special pampering, may be one reason for its popularity.
“Though it lacks the fragrance of roses or jasmine, the hibiscus, spreading a blanket of red across a courtyard, used to be a signature feature of many homes,” notes poet S Kalesh.
“The sight of a blooming hibiscus exudes a distinct identity.”
Perhaps this familiarity explains why the hibiscus finds occasional mention in Malayalam literature. Latheesh Mohan has a poetry collection titled ‘Chevikal Chembarathikal’, while few Malayalis would be unfamiliar with the song ‘Chembarathippoove Chollu...’ penned by Shibu Chakravarthy and sung by K S Chitra.
But for Kalesh, the flower brings to mind Vaikom Muhammad Basheer. “He used to plant saplings within the prison grounds during his time in captivity. Perhaps hibiscus was very dear to him. Traces of this fondness can be seen in his novel ‘Balyakalasakhi’,” he says.
“In the novel, Suhra plants a hibiscus sapling in Majeed’s compound. A red flower is already in bloom when she plants it. Every morning, she visits Majeed’s house to water the plant. The imagery is so beautiful.”
The flower remains significant towards the end of the novel, when Majeed remembers Suhra after learning of her death. When they meet for the last time, she stands holding the hibiscus plant, her eyes filled with tears.
“The chembarathi was a symbol of the lost love between Suhra and Majeed,” Kalesh says.
For poet and translator Nithya Mariam John, the hibiscus is inseparable from childhood memories. She would spend hours gazing at the vibrant red flowers in her home.
“Red is my favourite colour. I would imagine living inside a chembarathi flower, with its red, shoe-like petals forming a tent all around me,” she smiles.
In English literature, the rose is a familiar symbol of love. “‘O my Luve is like a red, red rose’, wrote Scottish poet Robert Burns,” adds Nithya, who is an assistant professor of literature at BCM College in Kottayam.
“But I believe the hibiscus better captures love in its most passionate, all-consuming and life-changing form. For us, Basheer’s chembarathi, flowering in bright red, stands as a strong testimony to love and loss, doesn’t it?”
Its beauty and symbolism, she notes, the chembarathi has a much longer history. “In Victorian floriography (language of flowers), the hibiscus was indeed associated with love and passion,” she says.
Fashion design student Adrija V K too is reminded of home while talking about chembarathi. “Our old house in Alappuzha had numerous plants, their blooms colouring the yard red,” she recalls.
That memory inspired her engagement attire, which caught much attention on social media recently.
“I wanted something personal, rooted in my own experience. The beauty of this red flower is incomparable to me. Be it the petal or the stigma, chembarathi is such a grand flower. I complemented the design with manjadikkuru (red bead tree seeds),” she says.
Her love for the flower extends beyond fashion to painting too. “Hibiscus is a unique flower. It is found everywhere, but nothing can replace it,” she says with a smile.
Well, folklore and films may have given the red chembarathi a ‘mental’ association. But we all love a bit of madness, right?
Jokes apart, the hibiscus is more than a familiar garden flower or a cultural symbol. Its botanical diversity and potential medicinal properties offer plenty of reasons to look at it afresh.
According to botany professor and lichenologist Stephen Sequeira, the genus hibiscus, belonging to the mallow family, Malvaceae, includes around 275 species worldwide.
“India has about 35 recorded species, while Keralam has around 16 to 17,” he says.
The plant has attracted scientific interest for its medicinal properties. Studies have examined its antioxidant, antibacterial and antifungal activities, while its potential antiviral, antidiabetic and anticancer properties are also being investigated.
The effects can vary depending on the species and the part of the plant used.
“Hibiscus tea, consumed in different parts of the world, is another popular preparation. Various communities have traditionally used hibiscus-based remedies for complaints ranging from fatigue and digestive problems to menstrual disorders,” he notes.
Stephen, however, cautions that traditional uses and preliminary findings do not establish the plant’s effectiveness in treating medical conditions. Such claims require further scientific evidence.
Hibiscus, however, has a prominent place in Ayurveda and local remedies. “Hibiscus appears in Ashtanga Hridayam as an ingredient in several medicines. It is one of the prominent dravyas used in many oils. Its petals are also used to test the consistency of oils and different kinds of ghee,” says Arish, an Ayurveda doctor.
The flower is a key ingredient in traditional hair oils intended to darken hair and is widely used in hair treatments. “Yet, sporting a hibiscus flower in one’s hair is a complete no for us Malayalis,” he quips.
‘Worth another look’
Beyond its beauty and medicinal uses, the hibiscus has helped generations understand the natural world, often beginning with a lesson in the classroom. And that’s part of Keralam’s collective nostalgia.
Environmentalist V C Balakrishnan recalls how teachers would bring the flower to school and dissect it to demonstrate its different parts. He remembers studying it in the 1960s, when the hibiscus was a common teaching aid for explaining the structure of a flowering plant.
The plant, he adds, also has a place in natural landscaping. “In parts of Wayanad, it is still used as a living fence because of its dense growth, often alongside the adalodakam plant,” he says.
“A hibiscus bush supports a small but lively ecological network. Butterflies such as the common Mormon and Jezebel, as well as sunbirds, among its frequent visitors.”
Balakrishnan has also observed the cotton leaf roller moth (Haritalodes derogata), whose caterpillars roll hibiscus leaves around themselves for protection from predators, including certain wasps.
Another aspect of the plant intrigues him: its fruit. “We rarely see it bearing fruit. I remember seeing them when I was younger, in areas where hibiscus grew in dense vegetation. Now, since they are grown through propagation, it seems like the plant doesn’t need to grow its fruit anymore,” he says.
Balakrishnan also offers a possible explanation for the flower’s Malayalam name, chembarathi. “‘Chemb’ refers to red, and ‘parathi’ is a name associated with plants in the mallow family,” he says, adding that this may not be a definitive account of the name’s origin.
“The hibiscus may be common, but that does not make it unremarkable. It is definitely worth another look,” he smiles.