Flowers of Couroupita guianensis, known as the Cannonball tree, due to its hard, woody, spherical fruits.
The Tree is native to tropical South America, but seems to have been growing in India for at least 3000 years. How it got to India is a mystery.
These highly fragrant flowers were given to Shri Mataji on many occasions. She was very fond of them and commented that they are the flowers of the Sahasrara Chakra. I have also heard that the rose is associated with this Chakra.
The trees are grown extensively in Shiva temples in India, where they are called Shiv Kamal and Kailaspati. It is called the Nagalingam tree in Tamil. The flowers are called Shivalinga flowers in Hindi; Nagalinga Pushpa in Kannada; Nagamalli flowers or Mallikarjuna flowers in Telugu. Hindus revere it as a sacred tree because the petals of the flower resemble the hood of the Naga, a sacred snake, protecting a Shiva Lingam, the stigma.
2 comments:
Loved learning about this from you!
Thanks Kathleen. Such an unusual flower. Part sea anemone, part lotus. Would love to experience it's fragrance one day.
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