Parijat Incense
The Parijat flower and fragrance was not available on earth but Lord Krishna brought this heavenly tree to earth at the request of one of his wives, Satyabhama. Both his wives Satyabhama and Rukmini wanted the tree in their courtyard and a quarrel over it ensued between them. But Krishna planted the Parijata tree in Satyabhama's courtyard in such a way that when the tree flowered, the flowers fell in Rukmini's courtyard.
Our Parijata incense is made from the fragrant Parijat flowers of the Mysore region in South India. The scriptures tell us that the original Parijata tree was brought to earth by Lord Krishna from the heavenly abode of Indra. The presently known Parijata trees were named after this legendary tree due to their beautiful and sweet fragrance. Each morning the Parijat flowers must be gathered from the ground, as they fall from the tree daily as soon as opening.
250 grams of the highest quality parijat masala incense in the world. There are approximately 175 sticks of incense per 250 gram box.
The History of Parijata Incense
Considered to be a divine tree, Parijat is not without its share of tales of its romantic origin. Close to the heart of the lovers that of a princess 'Parijataka', who was in love with the sun. She tried a lot to win the heart of Sun, but when he rejected her she committed suicide and a tree sprung from her ashes. Unable to stand the sight of the lover, the tree flowers only at night and sheds them like tear drops before the sun rises. That is how the Parijata trees are, even today!
"Parijat" is also known as 'Harsinghar' in Hindi and 'Shefali' in Bengali. It bears the botanical name of Nycatanthes Arbortristis. Nyctanthes which means 'night flowering' and Arbortristis means 'The sad tree' or 'The tree of sorrow' as in the early morning when it has dropped its flowers, the tree appears to look sad. Flower lovers wake up in the early morning to collect the parijata flowers and generally place them in a flat dish to make their rooms fresh and fragrant.
Parijat flowers have four to eight petals arranged above a vibrant orange tube in a pinwheel pattern. These highly fragrant flowers open at night spreading their fragrance in the surrounding area with an intensely sweet floral aroma. Just as the dawn breaks, they drop one by one, forming a carpet of snow-white petals, an enchanting sight that can take anyone?s breath. These parijata flowers blossom between August to December.
In India, Parijat grows in the outer Himalayas at the height of about 1400 meters, and are found in tracts of Jammu & Kashmir, Nepal to East of Assam, Bengal, Tripura extended through the Central region up to Godavari in the South. Besides India, they are found in Thailand, Indonesia, Nepal and Pakistan.
Parijata also has medicinal properties. The juice of its leaves is bitter and saline in taste and provides effective relief in the treatment of several types of inflammation and fever including malaria, the intermittent fever, common cough and cold. It also provides an assured remedy for various body disorders ranging from common cough and cold to arthritis and sciatica. The juice of its leaves when mixed with little sugar is a good medicine for treatment of stomach ailments of children. Its flowers, though bitter in taste act as appetizer and soothe the stomach. In the treatment of skin diseases and constipation, the seeds of the Parijat tree are used.
Parijat is also used in making 'face packs', as it procures a shine to the face and gives guaranteed remedy to a variety of skin ailments. The scent of the flower is so fresh that its aroma is captured for making 'agarbati' (incense) and 'attar'. In Asia, the orange colour of the flower is often used to dye the silk and cotton clothing for Buddhist monks. In north east India especially in Assam these flowers are sold in the vegetable markets and people buy them for its medicinal values. They make a soup of these flowers and take it the morning for robust health.
Although most of the flowers, viz., jasmine, lily, rose are offered to God plucked directly from the plants, yet Parijata is considered as the only flower that can be picked from the ground and offered to God. The Parijat tree is believed to be one of the products that surfaced as a result of the 'Samudramanthan'. Parijat flowers mark the arrival of Goddess Durga. Rabindra Nath Tagore in his poems has mentioned about Parijata flowers and its importance in Durga Puja.
