TREE WORSHIP - A WAY OF LIFE IN LADORI
Other than fruit crop, there was another unique advantage of mango gardens covering vast stretches of area that certainly help in keeping ecological and environmental balance of the region and thereby contributing their share in having timely and sufficient rains. People also encouraged planting and nurturing various other indigenous fruit bearing trees and at the same time preserving other self shooting conventional wild trees which are a regular source of green fodder for domestic livestock and also for meeting urgent need of timber. If trees are in plenty in the neighborhood everything we need in life would also be easily available at hand.
Trees are indeed our true and living friends. They also feel pain and anguish like us humans. They do cry and shed tears when hurt.. They smile when we do. They need our love. Preserve and nurture them for generations to come. They shower on us everything they possess. You simply give them only one thing - protection!
We can do without everything: but not a tree; let there be a tree in our life: erect and strong. The opening line of a poem by Niren Chakravarti, a Bengali poet. How true it rings! Imagine an estate without a tree, and the picture is incomplete. Even when a child starts making his first landscapes in crayons, he makes hills, the rising sun, a hut and a tree beside it. The neighborhood would indeed be desolate without the friendly trees which give shade, shelter and fresh air.
In many ancient cultures, trees are held sacred. It is as though the sanctity stems from their ever renewing force of life and growth. But no where in the world do trees receive the love as accorded to them in our country! For more than a thousand years, tree worship is a part of Indian way of life. Lord Shiva Himself is a tree trunk devoid of leaves and ber is sacred to Him. Vishnu is said to manifest Himself in the Peepal. Peepal is also known as the Bodi Vriksha for under it Gautam Buddha attained enlightenment. Krishna's favorite is, of course, the Kadamba where he played flute to Radha.
There were select few old timers of brahmin community in Ladori who used to offer fresh holy water at the roots of the Peepal Tree after having taken bath early in the morning at Chikly Jabbar. They would embrace the tree number of times while chanting hymns, offer flowers, tie raw cotton yarn around the stem of the tree, lit a jyoti along with scented dhoop and agarwatti in reverence of tree god, thereby creating sense of very peaceful, pious, enchanting and godly ambience around every morning, be it winter or summer. Some other trees like Vat Vriksha, Plash, Amla, Ber, legendary Kadamba and Kalaptaru are also worshiped in our country.
Folklore celebrates Kalpavriksha, which fulfills the wishes of the devotees for, at its roots lie jewels and gold! Trees are celebrated in the poetry of all cultures. It is time to return to this close relationship with the trees and nurture them as they nurture us.
Let there be a tree in every life, erect and strong!
Trees are indeed our true and living friends. They also feel pain and anguish like us humans. They do cry and shed tears when hurt.. They smile when we do. They need our love. Preserve and nurture them for generations to come. They shower on us everything they possess. You simply give them only one thing - protection!
We can do without everything: but not a tree; let there be a tree in our life: erect and strong. The opening line of a poem by Niren Chakravarti, a Bengali poet. How true it rings! Imagine an estate without a tree, and the picture is incomplete. Even when a child starts making his first landscapes in crayons, he makes hills, the rising sun, a hut and a tree beside it. The neighborhood would indeed be desolate without the friendly trees which give shade, shelter and fresh air.
In many ancient cultures, trees are held sacred. It is as though the sanctity stems from their ever renewing force of life and growth. But no where in the world do trees receive the love as accorded to them in our country! For more than a thousand years, tree worship is a part of Indian way of life. Lord Shiva Himself is a tree trunk devoid of leaves and ber is sacred to Him. Vishnu is said to manifest Himself in the Peepal. Peepal is also known as the Bodi Vriksha for under it Gautam Buddha attained enlightenment. Krishna's favorite is, of course, the Kadamba where he played flute to Radha.
There were select few old timers of brahmin community in Ladori who used to offer fresh holy water at the roots of the Peepal Tree after having taken bath early in the morning at Chikly Jabbar. They would embrace the tree number of times while chanting hymns, offer flowers, tie raw cotton yarn around the stem of the tree, lit a jyoti along with scented dhoop and agarwatti in reverence of tree god, thereby creating sense of very peaceful, pious, enchanting and godly ambience around every morning, be it winter or summer. Some other trees like Vat Vriksha, Plash, Amla, Ber, legendary Kadamba and Kalaptaru are also worshiped in our country.
Folklore celebrates Kalpavriksha, which fulfills the wishes of the devotees for, at its roots lie jewels and gold! Trees are celebrated in the poetry of all cultures. It is time to return to this close relationship with the trees and nurture them as they nurture us.
Let there be a tree in every life, erect and strong!
No comments:
Post a Comment