A map to guide you to Bengaluru’s pink Tabebuia bloom

Discover Bengaluru's pink Tabebuia blooms with an interactive map, tracking locations through community contributions and official census data.

As Bengaluru turns into a blush-tinted canvas this season, a city-based techie has ensured that residents no longer have to rely on chance sightings to experience the spectacle. Faris Mohammed, a lead product designer at a Bengaluru-based agentic analytics company, has launched an interactive website www.blrbloom.com that tracks neighbourhoods where pink Tabebuia trees are in full bloom.

Originally from Malappuram in Kerala and a Bengalurean for nearly a decade, Mr. Mohammed describes the project as a hobby that quickly grew into something larger. “Every year, we have this beautiful pink blossom season, but there was no single place to know exactly where and when it was happening,” he told The Hindu.

The idea first struck him on a traffic-clogged evening along Outer Ring Road(ORR). Spotting a Tabebuia tree in full bloom, he wished for a tracker similar to Japan’s extensive cherry blossom forecasts and festivals. “Sometimes I would notice blooms on my way to the office, but later could not recall the exact location. I felt it would be nice to create something that helps people find them easily,” he said.

Built in less than four days for its initial version, the platform was first populated with curated bloom spots. A turning point came when Mr. Mohammed discovered the Greater Bengaluru Authority’s (GBA) tree census data via OpenCity’s website. The census catalogues around 21,000 trees across the city, providing a robust base to map Tabebuia trees more accurately.

The bloom-tracking system works through a community-driven model supported by two data sources: GBA’s census data and user contributions. Residents can search for trees near them through the census layer or add new bloom sightings, even in areas where census data may not exist. Users can upload images, indicate the number of trees blooming, and specify the stage of flowering.

The website incorporates an automated lifecycle progression to reflect the natural blooming pattern of Tabebuia. Once a bloom is added, it moves through defined stages, ‘budding’ to ‘partial’ in four days, ‘partial’ to ‘peak’ in three days, ‘peak’ to ‘full glory’ in two days, and finally to ‘fading’ after four days, mirroring the flower’s short but striking lifecycle.