ecological traditions of india west bengal

ECOLOGICAL TRADITIONS OF INDIA VOLUME - XII

WEST BENGAL

edited by

M. Amirthalingam

published by

C.P.R. Environmental Education Centre a Centre of Excellence of the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, Government of India.

ENVIS Centre - www.cpreecenvis.nic.in

2.............................Ecological Traditions of India - West Bengal

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Photo courtesy : Deidi von schaewen, Dr. Debal Deb and Dr. Arun Kumar Roy Mahato

SACRED PLANTS OF WEST BENGAL M. Amirthalingam*

Introduction There is a conceptual difference between ‘blessed’, ‘sacred’ and ‘holy’. The difference not only pertains to the semantic meaning of words but also to the worship of trees. For example, in the Druze tradition, prophets are considered as sacred while trees are `blessed’ (Dafni, et.al., 2005)1. Similarly, Simoons (1998)2 has differentiated between ‘holy trees’ such as the sacred fig or Bo-tree (Ficus religiosa L.) in which the entire species is worshipped and individual sacred trees which are worshipped due to their proximity to a holy place or their association with a holy person. In this article, we discuss a few plants which are considered sacred in the state of West Bengal.

Sacred Plants of West Bengal The Shivling at the famous Tarakeshwar temple near Kolkata in West Bengal is made out of the stump of the palmyra tree. The name Tarakeswar is said to be derived from the word tar, meaning palmyra palm. The leaves and fruits are used for decorating marriage pandals (Cowen, 1984)3.

*

C.P.R. Environmental Education Centre, Alwarpet, Chennai – 600 018


Sacred cactus plant The famous Kalighat temple dedicated to the goddess Kali is situated on the banks of the Adi (original) Ganga near Calcutta. In fact, the name Calcutta (formerly Kalighat) is said to derive from this temple. The Kalighat temple is one of 51 Sakti Peetas of Goddess Sakti, where the toes of the right foot of the Dakshayani or Sati fell during the course of Shiva’s Rudra Tandava. There is also an interesting legend connected with this temple. It is said that once a devotee saw a brilliant ray Photo courtesy : of light emanating from the Bhagirathi river bed and at its source he Deidi von schaewen discovered a piece of stone carved in the form of a human toe. He also found a Swayambhu Linga of Nakuleshwar Bhairav nearby and started worshipping Kali in the midst of the thick jungle. The dominant species in the jungle is a cactus plant called Sosthi Tala (Balakrishnan, 2003)4. Next to the main temple there is a large rectangular covered platform called Natmondir. From here, the face of the image can be seen. A large veranda called the Jor-bangla faces the main temple. From the Natmondir and through the Jor-bangla, one can have a clear view of the rituals being performed in the sanctum sanctorum. There is a three feet high rectangular altar with a cactus plant called Shosthi Tala. Below the tree, there are three stones placed on an altar representing the Goddesses Shosthi, Shitola and Mongol Chandi.

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Belur Math There is a two storied building which houses the museum in which is displayed some of the souvenirs of the stalwarts of the order. There is also a credible recreation of the Panchavati or grove of trees under which Ramakrishna attained salvation. Many believe that the Ramakrishna movement was virtually set in motion from here (Dutta, Indirani, 2005)5. The Kadam festival in Odisha and West Bengal is celebrated by agricultural communities in the month of Bhadra. The kadam tree is planted ceremoniously. Leaves of the sal tree are offered to it along with cucumber and vermilion. The worship of the kadam tree is supposed to ensure wealth and children. Kadambotsava is a popular festival celebrated by the farmers in the month of Bhado (September). A twig of this tree is brought and worshipped in the courtyard of the house. Later in the day, young shoots of grain are distributed among friends and relatives. The parijata flower is the official flower of the state of West Bengal, where it is known as shefali or shiuli. In West Bengal, Ganesha is associated with the plantain tree. During the Durga puja, the Kala Bo who represents Durga, the mother of Ganesha is worshipped. Kala Bo is intended to serve as a symbol for the nine types of leaves (nava patrika). The priests tie a bunch of eight plants on the trunk of the plantain tree. The group of nine plants, all of whom have medicinal properties, constitute the Kala Bo. The Kala Bo is the plant form of Durga. Ganesha is associated with this vegetation myth and Ashtadasha aushadhi shrishti (‘Creator of the eighteen medicinal plants’) is a name of Ganesha.


Turmeric paste is an indispensable item at Indian weddings. The paste is applied over the face and arms of the bride and bridegroom in many parts of India. Gayeholud (literally ‘yellow on the body’) is a ceremony observed in West Bengal. It takes place one or two days before the wedding ceremony. The turmeric paste is applied by friends to the bodies of the couple. This is said to soften the skin, but also colours them with the distinctive yellow hue that gives its name to this ceremony (Krishna and Amirthalingam, 2013)6. There is a grove of trees such as pipal, banyan, prickly pear and Madagascar periwinkle near the Hoogly river in the Serampore region which is associated with a small temple of Durga and Shiva. People used to come here and worship the deities and plants. In Gourchandra ghat, sacred plants such as pipal, tulsi and prickly pear are worshipped in the temple dedicated to Durga and Shiva (Roy, et.al., 2012)7. Among the numerous castes of West Bengal, the practice of worshipping sacred groves continues till the present day. These castes include Bauri, Barui, Bagdi, Mahishya, Mahato, Majhi, etc. Roy Burman (1996)8 has documented the existence of such groves. These tribes are instrumental in keeping up the age old traditions of tree worshipping, jungle worshipping and sacrifices. In particular, the Bagdi caste worships sacred trees like banyan, wild date palms, pipal and sand paper tree. In Barddhaman district of West Bengal, the Bagdi caste worships the banyan (Bot) tree along with the Devi Kali and Shiva. Also in this district, people worship Daityasur (a folk-god whose name is a combination of Daitya and Asur, both used for demons); they also worship the neem and the bael trees. A plant which is considered sacred to Manasa, the goddess of snakes is called the Sij plant (a species belonging to the Euphorbia genus i.e., Cactus family). This plant is worshipped in the temple of

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Manasaji by the tribal and hill people especially in Bengal (Gupta, 1968)9. The sacred bilva tree occupies a prominent position in Hindu religious rituals. It is commonly believed that by worshipping Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati with bilva leaves, a person is doubly blessed. In the Hindu pantheon, bilva represents many deities like Shiva, Parvati, Surya and Lakshmi. In particular, the bilva leaf is considered to be the favourite of Lord Shiva. Hence, every Shiva puja is performed by offering bel patra or bilva leaves. In fact, another name of Lord Shiva is ‘Bilvadanda’, meaning staff of the bilva. In Bengal, during the famous Durga puja, Durga is worshipped using the bilva leaf. One of the taboos of the Hindu religion is that it is sinful to cut the branch of a bilva tree since ghosts and spirits reside under this tree. Among the rituals is the practice of lighting the fire with the help of bilva twigs. This represents the spiritual fire ignited from the sun10. There is an eighteenth century terracotta temple situated under the sacred Bo tree (Ficus religiosa L.) at Dwarhatta, West Bengal. A famous Indian artist, Mukul Dey, who studied at Rabindranath Tagore’s Kala Bhavana (Institute of Fine Arts) in Santiniketan, travelled to Japan in 1916. He studied dry point etching, a medium that was still new to India. Dey depicted not only the local, regional and ancient traditions of India but also foreign artistic trends that were taught at Santiniketan. A favourite subject of Dey was the life of the historical Buddha who attained enlightenement under the sacred Bo tree at Bodh Gaya 11. On Ashok Shasthi day, women from Bengal eat the flower buds, while Hindu ladies believe that by drinking the water in which flowers have lain, they will protect their children from worry and grief (Cowen, 1984).


Reference 1. Dafni, Amots & Levy, Shay & Lev, Efraim 2005. The Ethnobotany of Christ’s Thorn Jujube (Ziziphus spina christi) in Israel. Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine, Vol. 1, No. 8. 2. Simoons, Frederick J. 1988. Plants of Life, Plants of Death. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press. 3. Cowen, D.V., 1984. Flowering Trees and Shrubs in India, pp.101–03, Bombay: Thacker and Co. Ltd. 4. Balakrishnan, S., 2003. ‘Kali Mandir of Kolkata’, The Hindu, May 09, 2003. 5. Dutta, Indirani, 2005. ‘Evolution of a spiritual movement on display’, The Hindu, April 1, 2005. 6. Nanditha Krishna and M. Amirthalingam, 2013. Sacred Plants of India, Haryana:Penguin Books India, Pvt.Ltd. Gurgaon. 7. Roy, S., Ror, K. and Mitra, B., 2012. ‘Arthropod faunal diversity in some sacred trees of Serampore, Hoogly, West Bengal’, Records of the Zoological Survey of India: 112 (Part 2), pp. 65 – 69. 8. Burman, Roy, J.J., 1996. ‘A comparison of sacred groves among the Mahadeo Kolis and Kunbis of Mahashtra’. Indian Anthropologist, 26: 37-46. 9. Gupta, S.M., 1968. Plant Myths and traditions in India, New Delhi: National Museum. 10. http://www.indianscriptures.com/vedic-lifestyle/symbols/the-sacredbilwa-tree. Retrieved on Januay 28, 2016. 11. https://paddle8.com/work/laura-mcphee/80387-sacred-bo-treeficus-religiosa-supported-by-an-18th-century-terracotta-templedwarhatta-west-bengal-india. Retrieved on February 9, 2016.