About Kharibulbul

Some plants of the world are endemic – they grow only in one specific place with a most favourable concurrence of natural factors. The South Caucasus is a unique ecosystem that houses a large number of plant species that cannot be found anywhere else on earth.

Some of these species are confined to a very limited space. The flower Khari bulbul (Xarı Bülbül) is one of them: it grows only in the Shusha region of the South Caucasus (called Shushi by Armenians, ed.). The shape of the flower resembles a nightingale, hence its name: “Khar” means “thorn” in Azerbaijani, and “bulbul” means “nightingale”. If you look at the flower closely, you can easily discern three petals spreading in three different directions. Two of them are like wings, and the third one in the middle is shaped like a bird’s head with a beak.

Each spring the flower opens its three petals. Admiring the self-sacrifice of wild flowers, nightingales fly up to them, but they do not sing – they wail. “Khar” is eternally ashamed and hides his head in the flower’s petals, forever depriving himself of the light and beauty of the world…

The Azerbaijani population of Mountaineous Karabakh has always had very sentimental feelings for Khari bulbul. The flower turned into a symbol of Shusha, of the whole of Karabakh. Today its name is used by local music bands, and its image can be found in the ornaments on traditional Azerbaijani rugs and even on the manat, the national currency… Yet, the flower itself can no longer be seen…

Finally I wan’t to say that, everybody: LET’S PROTECT AZERBAIJAN’S KHARI BULBUL!

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