Parijat of Kintoor and Mandu ke imli
It was some time last year that I was travelling through Barabanki district in Uttar Pradesh when my fellow traveller and colleague took us to Kintoor village, which is approximately 40 km from the district headquarters. The village is named after Kunti, mother of the Pandavas. A number of ancient temples are arranged in a cluster here, among which is the Parijat or divine tree, which is said to have grown from the ashes of Kunti. There are several legends for this tree. One being that Lord Krishna brought this tree from Heaven as a gift for his wife. Second, Arjun brought this tree from heaven, and his mother used to offer the flowers of this tree to Lord Shiva. A local priest also mentioned that Harivansh Puraan mentions this tree as a Kalpavriksha or wish-bearing tree, which, apart from this tree, is only found in heaven. Putting aside the legends, I identified the tree; it is an African Baobab, scientific name Adansonia digitata, and is real old; radio carbon dating puts its age at around 800 years.
However, a lone African Baobab in interior India piqued me until the last month, when I was travelling in the hinterlands of Dhar district in Madhya Pradesh. While entering the ancient fort town of Mandu, I was pleasantly surprised when after a sudden turn, we were greeted by rows of the African Baobab on either side of the road. No sooner we stopped our vehicle beside one such tree and stepped out for a closer look and admire its shape and size, we were surrounded by children. The tree, like the other ones, was full of pod shaped fruits. We requested the children to fetch us at least one pod. Seeing our interest in the tree and its fruit, they became excited and started throwing stones aimed at the pods and managed to dislodge one in no time. The fruit was dry, light, and had a hard, but brittle shell. We cracked it open and found that the dried pulp inside could be removed in pieces; invariably, each piece had a black seed inside. The dry pulp pieces tasted somewhat tangy. By this time, a few adults had also gathered. They mentioned that the fruit and tree are locally known as Khorasani imli. On inquiring about the origins of this tree in this region, they mentioned that long ago a group of Spice Route traders en route from Khorasan (what Central Asia was called then) to the far east brought along Baobab seeds from their earlier travels to Africa. They exchanged the seeds for food and shelter. The locals planted the seeds and hence their presence. The tree is also called Mandu ke imli or tamarind of Mandu.
Another story goes like this: the local ruler of Mandu, Sultan Ghiyas-ud-din-Khalji, had a fascination for exotic things. A traveller from Madagascar came to the Sultan’s court around 500 years ago and gifted him a few seeds. The Sultan planted the seeds at the Jahaz Mahal and other parts of Mandu.
We must also keep in mind that more than 100 million years ago, India was part of Gondwanaland and used to border Madagascar, where the Baobab flourishes till date. Due to the movement of the Earth’s tectonic plates, India carried the Baobab along and became part of Asia.
Whatever the actual reason and history, the Baobab is an interesting tree, and its occurrence in India is laced with legends, local histories, and the geological formation of the continents. I have heard that a few of these trees are present in Wai in Maharashtra and in certain areas of Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh. Let’s see when I see them.
March 10, 2024
