Neem / Nimba/ Margosa

[Guest guest]

MadhavaPrabu remarked in message 3040 "an offering of Neem

Garland

to Nageswari Ambal is very auspicious"

 

Latin : Azadirachta Indica/ hindi ( the fever bark from India )

Family : meliaceae

Sanskrit Name : Nimba

Hindi Name : Neem

Tamil : "vembu" or "veppam"

Kannada : "bevu

Telugu : "Vepa"

Malayalam : `Veppu" or "aryaveppu"

 

Neem or Nimba as it is called in Sanskrit is a plant of varied uses

especially in Ayurveda since ancient times and is highly extolled by

expert physicians as well as practitioners of folk lore medicine. It

is also a much prized household remedy.

 

The plant has thirty two names in Sanskrit, among others

1. nimba : the basic term of the basonym

2. Sutikta : Auspicious bitter, refreshing to the taste

3. Pichmarda : Controlling a type of leprosy called pichu

4. Neta : Leader among the controllers of disease

5. Ravisannibha : health giving like sun

6. Arishta : Not infected with insects, insect resistant

7. Sheeta : cooling

8. Cchardana : vomit inducing emetic

9. Krimighna : destroying worms

10. Sumana : pleasing or soothing to the mind, referring to the

graceful appearance of the whole tree

11. Shirsha parna : bearing bunches of leaves at the ends of the

branches

12. Shukapriya and Kakaphala : fruits well liked by parrots and

crows in search of these fruits.

13. Linguniryasa : producing an exudation like asafetida or hing

14. Pitasaraka : having its inner wood, yellow.

 

Neem is a large sized everygreen tree found growing all over India,

wild as well as cultivated. This occurs usually near human

habitations and sometimes as an avenue tree along the highways.

Figures of Neem trees are found in the talisman unearthed from the

Mohanjodaro remains. Neem is undoubtedly one of the typically native

trees of India, attractive, densely shady and with shinning yellowish

green leaves generally crowded toward the end of the branch

 

It is believed to be a health giving tree purifying the air all

around. It also possessed of many and great virtues. India's

earliest

societies used Neem leaves or Margosa to exorcise the spirits of the

dead. Today Neem is valued more highly for its capacity to exorcise

the demons of disease than the spirits of the dead, and an image of

the goddess Sitala or Mariamman ( see our Goddess of the Week ) often

can be seen suspended from or holding a margosa branch where she is

guards against small pox, once the great killer of the Indian

countryside. With the eradiction of small pox, now bathing in a neem

leaf infusion, excellent for soothing scabs and clearing away scars,

marks the ritual termination of an attack of chicken pox or measles.

 

It is also renowned for its antiseptics and disinfectant properties,

the tree is thought to be particularly protective of woman and

children. Delivery chambers are fumigated with burning bark. Dried

Neem leaves are burned as a mosquito repellent. Fresh leaves

notorious for their bitterness, are cooked and eaten to gain immunity

from Malaria.

 

This tree is the beloved of India. With its find starlike flowers,

its long lime-coloured berries, and its feathery crests tossing fifty

feet into the sky, it is an invaluable natural pesticides and its oil

is used to protect the bark of other trees from termites. For

centuries its leave have been used to store grain, or to preserve

papers and cloths.

 

Click here to see pictures of two wonderful ladies who are like

mothers to me, preparing Neem garland for Mariamman Devi:

 

http://shaktisadhana.50megs.com/images/datinwithneen.jpg

http://shaktisadhana.50megs.com/images/neem3.jpg

[Guest guest]

I must commend you for that posting, it has been enlightening; could I

bother you for information in regards to the kadamba tree.