The Red and Yellow Blossoms of the Asoka Tree

“A flower does not think of competing with the flower next to it. It just blooms.” – Zen Shin 

  Welcome morning! Today morning was just that, exceptionally beautiful and with a slight chill in the breeze after the summer drizzles. Self-love was the only menu that was on my mind  when I entered the park for my morning walk. The park was quiet, except for a father-daughter duo holding hands and walking. The gardener was brooming away the fallen dry leaves from the walking track. The dewdrops were gleaming on the lawns in the gentle morning rays. 

 Today I decided to put some zen into my steps and started walking mindfully, loving the gentle feeling of wet  grass beneath my bare feet. I never get bored of looking  around to see  the trees, flowers, and skyscapes. They looked new everyday. But I was not expecting to discover a small orange tree laden with yellow bright oranges  hiding away behind the water tank . I suppressed my instinct to  take some  pictures and put it on social media. May be the tree loved some privacy.   A single mogra flower in the bushes couldn’t hide its fragrance and caught my attention too. Mogras bring great joy to me and I love to string mogra buds on  dry banana tree fibres. A childhood habit of making flower garlands for the  Laxmi Narayana temple at my village.

  There is also a small  Asoka tree in the park with beautiful red and yellow blossoms.  The tree trunk also had  bright blossoms. I decided to take some pictures of Asoka blossoms.  I requested the gardener  to give me some flowers. He gave me three-four blossoms.  A photoshoot plan was made and I came back home.

I arranged the flowers in a golden uruli and took many photos. ,

“Is this the same Asoka tree  lunder which Sita Ma sat during her captivation ?” My thoughts started wandering  and I wanted to know more about Asoka Trees.

A search followed and I found out some  mind-blowing facts, myths, recipes, and even skincare potions.

Sita Ma when refused to stay in Ravan’s palace after the abduction, was sent to Asok Vatika.  She met Hanuman while sitting under the Shimshipa vriksha in Asok vatika. Ravan’s wife Mandodari also met Sita in the garden of Asoka trees. Maybe Ravan was a nature lover to have grown a vatika of Asoka Trees.

Asoka flower is one of the five flowers in the quiver of Kamadeva. Other flowers are Lotus, Mango flower, Jasmine, and Nilolpala (Blue Costos ). Kamadeva uses his sugarcane bow and hits the lovers with these flower arrows to wake up the five indriyas. But once when he tried the same on Lord Shiva everything went wrong, Shiva woke up from His Tapasya and burnt Kamadeva with His third eye. The story goes that  Lord Shiva later resurrected  Kamadeva from the ashes taking pity on Rati Devi, wife of Kamadeva.

This ancient tree finds its mention in Kalidasa’s play ‘Malavikagnimitram.’

Lord Buddha was born under the Asoka tree. Hence this is a sacred tree for Buddhists. Asoka trees are grown around Buddhist monasteries.

The scientific name of Asoka Tree is Saraca Asoka and Asoka flower is the state flower of the Indian state of Odisha .

We all know the use of many flower based essential oils for healing, relaxing, and aroma therapies.

Our ancestors were far too scientifically advanced than us. Maybe that is the reason why Asoka tree and its flowers got so many mentions in ancient texts.

In Ayurveda, a preparation made from the barks of Asoka tree ‘Asokarishtam’ is used to cure menstrual cramps and treat gynecology-related problems. There is also a halwa like preparation known as Asoka flower Lehyam  used mainly for prenatal care. This is made at home with asoka flowers, coconut milk, jaggery and pure cow ghee.

There is also a skin care oil made from asoka flowers. This is known to have skin whitening properties like removal of pigmentation.  I wanted to make the best of this rare flowers  and made this oil at home.

Asoka flower Skincare Oil

Preparation

2 cups Asoka flowers

2 cups virgin coconut oil

Preparation

Clean the flowers and grind them in a mixer without adding water. Heat the oil lightly in a thick pan. Add the flower paste. Simmer and keep stirring till the flower paste becomes coarse and brown. Let the oil settle in room temperature for 6 to 8 hours. You get a golde hued oil. Seive and store in a glass bottle. Apply little on face and lightly massage, Wash with your normal face wash. Let us glow with the goodness of Nature.

PS : Before applying this oil please make sure it suits your skin 🙂 

I loved meeting the Asoka flowers  . Hope you loved them too.:) 

Jai sri Hari