In the months of March-April, when Phagun flowers are in spring, women of the Gond tribe will often be found plucking thousands of beautiful flowers scattered under a tree. This tree is both a source of employment for them, a God worthy of worship and also a cultural heritage, which has been decorating and beautifying their lives from generation to generation. This special tree is Mahua, which the Gond tribals consider as “Elixir of Life” or life giver.
Gond tribals mainly live in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Odisha and Bihar. They are natives of India's oldest landmass “Gondwana”. Hardly anyone has written or read in books as much practical knowledge as they have about the trees, plants and animals of this earth.
The word Gond itself means 'green mountain'. They decorate their houses with figures of trees, plants, flowers, leaves and animals. His dot and line paintings are now famous all over the world. Although lions, deers, parrots… all are depicted in them, but the thing they show the most is the Mahua tree, as if the whole world is built around it. If seen, this is also an eternal truth for this community.
People of Gond tribe use Mahua tree from birth till death. It has an important place in their every festival, every puja, every special day. At the time of birth of a child, Mahua oil is applied to it, at the time of marriage, the bride and groom hold the stem of Mahua and perform rituals around it and the guests are also welcomed with liquor made from Mahua. Mahua is the cure for every disease for them, from stomach ailments to mild fever. This tree is never cut, rather the Gond tribals leave it as wealth for their future generations.
There was a time when the Mahua tree was quite common in India, especially in North and Central India. It is such an ancient tree that it has been described in the Vedas. Its medicinal properties are also mentioned in Charak Samhita. Kalidas has also written that Mother Parvati wears a necklace made of Mahua flowers.
The unique thing about Mahua flowers is that they bloom at night and wither by morning. The fragrance of flowers scattered under the tree spreads far due to which animals and birds like bats, wild pigeons, sloth bears etc. are attracted towards them. The Gond tribals collect these flowers, dry them and make the world's only flower-based liquor.
If you look carefully at Gond paintings, you will find that sometimes the deer's horns take the shape of tree branches and sometimes the birds' feathers become Mahua leaves. In each of his writings, Gond explains simply that life exists only from trees and life exists only from trees.
(Atula Gupta is an environment and science writer)
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are the personal views of the author.
