Parijat: A tree from Heaven with Confused Identity on the Gods' Earth

Parijat: A tree from Heaven with Confused Identity on the Gods' Earth

Authors

  •   Kaushalendra Kumar Jha   Former PCCF and Professor, IIFM, Bhopal

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.36808/if/2021/v147i2/156869

Keywords:

Hindu Faith, Parijat, Harshringar, Baobab.

Abstract

In the present context, two trees, Harshringar and Baobab, are in contention for being established as Parijat, a tree from heaven revered by Hindus, based on cultural practices as well as available evidence in literature. The former is indigenous while the latter is of African origin. The faith in Harshringar has existed longer than the introduction of the exotic Baobab which has some official credentials to its credit. The lack of clarity needs to be addressed based on further research on the topic.

References

Agrawal V. (2020). Mata Bhoomi. First Edition. Prabhat Prakashan. Delhi. (https://www.prabhatbooks.com/matabhoomi.htm and https://books.google.co.in/books?). Accessed14/09/2020.

Amrithlingam M. (2013). Plant and Animal Diversity in Valmiki's Ramayana. C.P. Environmental Education Centre, Chennai India.

Bell K.L., Rangan H., Kull C.A., Murphy D.J. (2015). The history of introduction of the African baobab (Adansonia digitata, Malvaceae: Bombacoideae) in the Indian subcontinent. R. Soc. open sci. 2: 150370. http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsos.150370.

Bidari B. (ND). Forest and trees associated wth Lord Buddha. pp 11-24. http://himalaya.socanth.cam.ac.uk/collections/journals/ancientnepal/pdf/ancient_nepal_139_02.pdf. Aacessed on 15/09/2020.

Burton-Page J. (1969). The problem of the introduction of Adansonia digitata into India. In The domestication and exploitation of plants and animals (eds PJ Ucko, GWDimbleby), pp. 331–335. London, UK: Duckworth.

Gupta S.M. (2001). Plant Myths and Traditions in India. Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers, New Delhi, India.

Hiremath V., Hiremath B.S., Mohapatra S., Das A.K. (2016). Literary review of Parijata (Nyctanthus arbor-tristis Linn.) an Herbal Medicament with Special Reference to Ayurveda and Botanical Literatures. Biomedical and Pharmacology Journal, 9(3): 1019-1025.

Hooykaas C. (1958). From Lenka to Ayodhya by Puspaka, being the Old-Javanese Ramayana sarga XXV mainly In: Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde 114 (1958), no: 4, Leiden, 359-383 http://www.kitlv-journals.nl accessed on 13/09/2020.

Lemmens RHMJ, Wulijarni-Soetjipto N. (1991). Plant Resources of South-East Asia, Dye and tannin-producing plants. Pudoc/Prosea, Wageningen, the Netherlands. https://library.wur.nl/WebQuery/wurpubs/fulltext/410954 accessed 13/09/2020.

Parekh S., Soni A. (2020). Nyctanthes arbor-tristis: Comprehensive review on its pharmacological, antioxidant, and anticancer activities. Journal of Applied Biology and Biotechnology, 8(01):95-104.

Patel S., Talwelkar M. (2015). Extent of Satisfaction Experienced by Home Owners on Application of Vastu Shastra. Asian Resonance, 4(3): 188-196.

Patra R.T. (2017). Vaastu in perspective of technology. International Education and Research Journal, 3(5): 775-780.

Patrut A., Woodborne S., von Reden K.F., Hall G., Hofmeyr M., Lowy D.A., Patrut R.T. (2015). African Baobabs with False Inner Cavities: The Radiocarbon Investigation of the Lebombo Eco Trail Baobab. PLoS ONE 10(1): e0117193. doi:10.1371/journal. pone.0117193.

Patrut A., Woodborne S., von Reden K.F., Hall G., Patrut R.T., Rakosy L., Danthu P., Pock-Tsy J-M L, Lowy D.A., Margineanu D. (2017). The Growth Stop Phenomenon of Baobabs (Adansonia Spp.) Identified by Radiocarbon Dating. Radiocarbon, 59(2): 435–448. DOI:10.1017/RDC.2016.92.

Patrut A., Woodborne S., Patrut R.T., Rakosy L., Lowy D.A., Hall G. and von Reden K.F. (2018). The demise of the largest and oldest African baobabs. Nature Plants. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41477-018-0170-5.

Patrut A., Woodborne S., Patrut R.T., Hall G., Rakosy L., Winterbach C. and von Reden K.F. (2019). Age, Growth and Death of a National Icon: The Historic Chapman Baobab of Botswana. Forests 2019, 10, 983; doi:10.3390/f10110983.

Patrut A., Garg A., Woodborne S., Patrut R.T., Rakosy L., Ratiu I.A., et al. (2020a) Radiocarbon dating of two old African baobabs from India. PLoS ONE 15(1): e0227352. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0227352.

Patrut A., Patrut R.T., Rakosy L., von Reden K.F. (2020b). Age and architecture of the largest African Baobabs from Mayotte, France. DRC Sustainable Future 1(1): 33-47, DOI: 10.37281/DRCSF/1.1.5.

Rahul J., Jain M.K., Singh S.P., Kamal R.K., Anuradha, Naz A., Gupta A.K., Mrityunjay S.K. (2015). Adansonia digitata L. (baobab): a review of traditional information and taxonomic description. Asian Pacific Journal of Tropical Biomedicine, 5(1): 79-84.

Singh R.K., Garg A. (2016). Plight of the oldest baobab (Adansonia digitata L.) tree of India at Jhunsi, Allahabad. Indian Forester, 143(1): 67–68.

Tharoor S. (2018). Why I am a Hindu. Aleph Book Company, New Delhi, India.

Varmah J.C., Vaid K.M. (1978). Baobab–The historic African tree at Allahabad. Indian Forester, 104(7): 461–464.

Venkatesh C. (1996). OUR TREE NEIGHBOURS. National Council for Educational Research and Training, New Delhi, India in 1976. http://www.arvindguptatoys.com/arvindgupta/treesncert.pdf Accessed 14/09/2020.

Venter S. (2016). The little Big Baobab book. EcoPoroducts Foundation. South Africa. https://www.baobabfoundation.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/THE-LITTLE-BIG-BAOBAB-BOOK.pdf.

Wickens G.E. and Lowe P. (2008) Folklore and Tradition. In: The Baobabs: Pachycauls of Africa, Madagascar and Australia. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1 4020-6431-9_3.

Wilkins B.T. (2014). A life in storytelling: Anecdotes, stories to tell, Stories with movement and dance, Suggestions for educators. Rowman and Littlefield. Lanham, Maryland, USA.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biography

Kaushalendra Kumar Jha, Former PCCF and Professor, IIFM, Bhopal

uttarakhand

Published

2021-02-28

How to Cite

Jha, K. K. (2021). <i>Parijat</i>: A tree from Heaven with Confused Identity on the Gods’ Earth. Indian Forester, 147(2), 175–182. https://doi.org/10.36808/if/2021/v147i2/156869

Most read articles by the same author(s)

Loading...