Although roses are synonymous with Saint Valentine’s birthday celebrated conventionally as Valentine’s Day across the globe on February 14, there is one such ‘rose’ that appears among the millions of stars in the sky and burns brighter only on this particular day.

On February 14 if one looks up at the sky facing South, well above the horizon, they will be able to see three stars in a row surrounded by four bright stars forming a rectangle. These seven stars together make up the Orion constellation or Mrugha, meaning stag or male deer, in Indian astronomy. The star at the upper left corner of the rectangle, burning with a distinct red colour on this day, is Betelgeuse, the Indian name for which is Kakshi – also referred to as the celestial Valentine’s Day rose.