Nyctanthes arbor-tristis | |
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Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Clade: | Asterids |
Order: | Lamiales |
Family: | Oleaceae |
Genus: | Nyctanthes |
Species: | N. arbor-tristis |
Binomial name | |
Nyctanthes arbor-tristis | |
Synonyms [2] | |
Nyctanthes arbor-tristis is a species of Nyctanthes native to South Asia and Southeast Asia. [2] [3] [4] [5] It is commonly known as night-blooming jasmine, tree of sadness, tree of sorrow, hengra bubar, coral jasmine [6] and in Singapore seri gading. [7] Despite its common name, the species is not a "true jasmine" and not of the genus Jasminum.
The tree is called the "tree of sorrow" because the foliage becomes droopy as blooming flowers fall off during early morning. [8] The Latin specific epithet arbor-tristis means "sad tree". [8] In Nepal, Nyctanthes arbor-tristis is known as pārijāta (पारिजात), harsinghar, sephalika, pavalamallikai, manjapumaram, mannappumaram and siharu. [9] In Malaysia it is known as seri gading and in China it is referred to as nai hua or hung mo li. [9]
Nyctanthes arbor-tristis is a shrub or a small tree growing to 10 m (33 ft) tall, with flaky grey bark. The leaves are opposite, simple, 6–12 cm (2.4–4.7 in) long and 2–6.5 cm (0.79–2.56 in) broad, with an entire margin. The flowers are fragrant, with a five- to eight-lobed white corolla with an orange-red centre; they are produced in clusters of two to seven together, with individual flowers opening at dusk and finishing at dawn. The fruit is a bilobed, flat brown heart-shaped to round capsule 2 cm (0.79 in) diameter, each lobe containing a single seed. [4] [5]
N. arbor-tristis is native to Indo-China, Himalaya and Sumatera to Jawa. [10] It grows in dry deciduous forests and hillsides. [11]
The leaves have been used in Ayurvedic medicine and Homoeopathy for sciatica, arthritis, and fevers, and as a laxative. [12] An orange dye from the corolla, nyctanthin, is used to dye silk. [13] In India, flowers are used to make garlands and used for worship. [8]
The flower of Nyctanthes arbor-tristis is the official state flower of West Bengal and is called shiuli or shefali. [13] The "shiuli" flowers bloom during the autumn season in Bengal and are offered to goddess Durga on the festival of Durga Puja. The flowers are associated with the autumn season and Durga Puja in Bengal. Many Durga puja songs and poems have mentions of this flower.
The native people of Tripura use the plant to help predict weather and rainfall. [14]
The parijata is a divine tree featured in Hindu mythology. [15] The Mahabharata and the Puranas describe the parijata tree, as one of five trees, to have emerged during the legend of the Samudra Manthana. [16] Krishna is described to have battled with Indra to uproot the parijata from his capital of Amaravati and plant it in his own city of Dvaraka. [15] In regional tradition, Satyabhama grew aggrieved when Krishna offered his chief consort Rukmini a parijata flower. To placate her envy, Krishna confronted Indra and had the parijata tree planted near Satyabhama's door. Despite having the tree planted near her dwelling, the flowers of the tree fell in the adjacent backyard of Rukmini, the favourite wife of Krishna, because of her superior devotion and humility. [17] [18]
The tree is the subject of a work named Parijatapaharanamu in Telugu literature, written by Nandi Thimmana, the court-poet of Krishnadevaraya. [15] The poet Kalidasa sings about the flower in his Sanskrit poem Ritu samhara . [8]
Oleaceae, also known as the olive family or sometimes the lilac family, is a taxonomic family of flowering shrubs, trees, and a few lianas in the order Lamiales. It presently comprises 28 genera, one of which is recently extinct. The extant genera include Cartrema, which was resurrected in 2012. The number of species in the Oleaceae is variously estimated in a wide range around 700. The flowers are often numerous and highly odoriferous. The family has a subcosmopolitan distribution, ranging from the subarctic to the southernmost parts of Africa, Australia, and South America. Notable members include olive, ash, jasmine, and several popular ornamental plants including privet, forsythia, fringetrees, and lilac.
Jasmine is a genus of shrubs and vines in the olive family of Oleaceae. It contains around 200 species native to tropical and warm temperate regions of Eurasia, Africa, and Oceania. Jasmines are widely cultivated for the characteristic fragrance of their flowers. Additionally a number of unrelated species of plants or flowers contain the word "jasmine" in their common names.
Rukmini is a Hindu goddess and the first queen of Krishna. In Vaishnava tradition, she is described as Krishna's principal queen in Dvaraka, as well as the chief of his wives. Along with other members of Ashtabharya and Radha‚ she is an incarnation of the mother goddess, Lakshmi. The goddess is regarded to be the chief or principal consort of Krishna in various pieces of literature and is venerated primarily in Warkari and Haridasa tradition, and additionally in Sri Vaishnavism where Lakshmi-Narayana are revered and worshipped.
Durga Puja, also known as Durgotsava or Sharodotsav, is an annual festival originating in the Indian subcontinent which reveres and pays homage to the Hindu goddess Durga, and is also celebrated because of Durga's victory over Mahishasura. It is particularly celebrated in the Eastern Indian states of West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, eastern Uttar Pradesh, Assam, Odisha and by Hindus in Bangladesh. The festival is observed in the Indian calendar in the month of Ashvin, which corresponds to September–October in the Gregorian calendar. Durga Puja is a ten-day festival, of which the last five are of the most significance. The puja is performed in homes and public, the latter featuring a temporary stage and structural decorations. The festival is also marked by scripture recitations, performance arts, revelry, gift-giving, family visits, feasting, and public processions called a melā. Durga Puja is an important festival in the Shaktism tradition of Hinduism. Durga Puja in Kolkata has been inscribed on the intangible cultural heritage list of UNESCO in December 2021.
Kama, also known as Kamadeva and Manmatha, is the Hindu god of erotic love, desire, pleasure and beauty, often portrayed alongside his consort and female counterpart, Rati. He is depicted as a handsome young man decked with ornaments and flowers, armed with a bow of sugarcane and shooting arrows of flowers.
Jasmine is a flowering shrub of the genus Jasminum. It may also refer to:
Nyctanthes is a genus of flowering plants in the family Oleaceae, native to southeastern Asia. It is currently accepted as containing two species; other species previously included in this genus have been transferred to other genera, most of them to Jasminum.
Kalpavriksha is a wish-fulfilling divine tree in religions like Hinduism, Jainism, and Buddhism. In Buddhism, another term, ratnavṛkṣa, is also common. Its earliest descriptions are mentioned in Sanskrit literature. It is also a popular theme in Jain cosmology and Buddhism.
Naraka, also known as Narakasura, and Bhaumasura was a asura king, the legendary progenitor of all three dynasties of Pragjyotisha-Kamarupa, and the founding ruler of the legendary Bhauma dynasty of Pragjyotisha. Though the myths about Naraka are first mentioned in the Mahabharata, later texts embellish them. According to later post-Vedic texts such as the Brahma Purana and Vishnu Purana, he was the son of Bhudevi, fathered either by the Varaha incarnation of Vishnu. He is claimed as one who established Pragjyotisha. He was killed by Krishna and Satyabhama. His son Bhagadatta—of Mahabharata fame—succeeded him.
Satyabhama, also known as Satrajiti, is a Hindu goddess and the third queen consort of the Hindu god Krishna. Satyabhama is described as an incarnation of Bhumi, an aspect of Lakshmi. She is the goddess and the personification of the Earth. She has two sisters named Bratini, and Prasvapini who are her co-wives as well. According to some traditions, she is regarded to have aided Krishna in defeating the asura Narakasura.
Jasminum sambac is a species of jasmine native to tropical Asia, from the Indian subcontinent to Southeast Asia. It is cultivated in many places, especially West Asia, South Asia and Southeast Asia. It is naturalised in many scattered locales: Mauritius, Madagascar, the Maldives, Christmas Island, Chiapas, Central America, southern Florida, the Bahamas, Cuba, Hispaniola, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, and the Lesser Antilles.
Indrani, also known as Shachi, is the queen of the devas in Hinduism. Described as tantalisingly beautiful, proud and kind, she is the daughter of the asura Puloman and the consort of the king of the devas, Indra.
Parijat or Nyctanthes arbor-tristis is the night-flowering jasmine.
Millingtonia hortensis, the tree jasmine or Indian cork tree, is the sole species in the genus Millingtonia, a tree native to South Asia and South East Asia.
Parijatapaharanamu (parijata+apaharanamu) is a Telugu poem composed by Nandi Thimmana. It is based on a story from Harivamsam. The story is about love quarrel between Krishna and his consorts Rukmini and Satyabhama.
The Ashtabharya or Ashta-bharya(s) is the group of eight principal queen-consorts of Hindu god Krishna, the king of Dvaraka, Saurashtra in the Dvapara Yuga (epoch). The most popular list, found in the Bhagavata Purana, includes: Rukmini, Jambavati, Satyabhama, Kalindi, Nagnajiti, Mitravinda, Lakshmana and Bhadra. Variations exist in the Vishnu Purana and the Harivamsa, which includes queens called Madri or Rohini, instead of Bhadra. Most of them were princesses.
Jambavati is chronologically the second Ashtabharya of the Hindu god Krishna. She is the only daughter of the bear-king Jambavan. Krishna marries her when he defeats her father, Jambavan, in his quest to retrieve the stolen Syamantaka jewel.
Harana is a Sanskrit term literally meaning seizure, commonly used to denote elopement. Elopement is a common theme featured in Hindu literature, with a number of characters choosing to perform elopement before their marriage, or being abducted by others against their will.
Sri Krishna Tulabharam is a 1966 Indian Telugu-language Hindu mythological film, produced by D. Ramanaidu under the Suresh Productions banner and directed by Kamalakara Kameswara Rao. It stars N. T. Rama Rao, Anjali Devi, Kanta Rao and Jamuna with music composed by Pendyala Nageswara Rao.