The Subjects in the Flower Kingdom - Arali

T. R. Surya

Flowers in general add beauty and auspiciousness to our lives. They are used for many purposes from birth to death. It enhances us to become equipoised at mind and only such a mind revels in happiness. The importance of many flowers and their religious significance had been articled in the previous issues of the e-magazine. This article tries to bring out the importance of Arali (Oleander Nerium) and the key role played by the flower in Hindu rituals.

The arali is the most common flowers used for almost all festivals. There are varieties of arali and almost every variegate is easily available. It is generally said that planting Pon Arali (Yellow Oleander) in the northeast corner of house would bless the indwellers with prosperity. The flower markets all over the country and even abroad sell these flowers in abundance as they are used in the making of garlands for deities.

Our ancestors claimed that various flowers were auspicious to different manifestations of God. In that way, arali is offered to Lord Shiva while it is restricted to Lord Rama. It is believed that the specialty of arali is to suck up the atmospheric pollution and gives out pure air. “Is that why we find many arali plants on highways?” Also, the enchanting arali flowers are used to make garland that adorn the Paramapada (Holy feet) of the Ishvara.

It can be said sans arali no occasion is complete. Starting from Pongal throughout all the festivals in the year, it serves best to make the festivities colorful. This commoner flower can be offered almost to any God. Although arali is a non-fragrant flower, it brings in divinity just by its appearance. The plant grows up to a height of six feet and does not need any special attention. The advantage of arali is that it is compact in size and can grow anywhere and everywhere like the omnipresent, Lord Shiva. The arali remains a bud during the cold weather and blooms to flowers just at a glance of the sun.

Planting, preserving, and maintaining an arali is extremely simple. Its unique capacity to grow to a plant from its own stem is a greatest gift. It helps the plant to exist even in adverse conditions. The slender branches are cut into pieces of 15 cms in length with its leaves removed. They are then just placed in a pot of water for two weeks. Eventually, one can observe the fragile tap root getting developed even in water. The half-grown plants are subsequently placed in a pot of soil. After few weeks, the stems start sprouting leaves at the nodes from where the previously existing leaves were removed at beginning. With time, the plants start bearing flowers.

 T. R. Surya is the special correspondent of the company. He is an eloquent speaker and compendious writer of English. An avid learner of Sanskrit and Indian scriptures under the guidance of Swami Ganeshaswarupananda and Gita Chaitanya of Arshavidyalaya. His inclination and interests are towards studying Metaphysics and philosophies.