Asoka tree is one of the trees having cultural and religious significance in
India. Ashoka or Asoka is a Sanskrit word which means “without sorrow” or that
which “gives no grief”. The Asoka tree is known by other names such as Sita
Asoka in Hindi, sorrow less tree and tree of love. The other names of the tree
are: Anganapriya, Ashopalava, Asupala, Apashaka, Hemapushpa, Kankeli,
Madhupushpa, Pindapushpa, Pindipushpa, Vanjula, Vishoka, (Asokamu, Vanjulam) in
Telugu, and Achenge, Akshth, Kenkallimara in Kannada..
Vishnu Purana, there is a mention of Asoka Vatika, garden in Ravana’s palace
premises. It was in the Asoka Vana that Mandodari, queen of Ravana came to meet
Sita Mata and it is also the place where Hanuman first meets Sita Mata.
In Ramayana, there is a mention of Asoka tree where Sita Devi, wife of Lord
Rama took shelter in Lanka, when in the captivity of Ravana. The tree is
slightly said to have bent, to not only provide shelter to Sita Mata, but to
also show its respect to Her.
Lord Mahavira renounced this world sitting under the Asoka tree in Vaishali.
Lord Buddha was born under the Asoka tree.
The tree is dedicated to Kamadeva, the God of Love. The tree is a symbol of
love, as the lord is said to have used the Asoka flowers as one of the five
flowers in his quiver.
tree is associated with Yakshi, a mythological being (spirits who are the
custodians of treasure hidden in earth and in the root of the trees) usually
seen at the entrance of temples or Buddhist monasteries. Yakshi is sculpted as
having her one foot on the trunk of the Asoka tree and her hand holding the
branch of a flowering trunk.
The land which believes that every fruit bearing tree was created from
Brahma's hair on the body, there are always mythological stories associated
with trees, shurbs and creepers. Think of a tree and first that comes to my
mind is Asoka tree.
Why ashoka!!!
It is the sorrowless tree on earth…, just that thought of being sorrowless,
itself makes it divine on earth. The tree of love blossoms, dedicated to the
Love God of Hindu mythology, Kamadeva. He rides on a parrot the symbol of
spring, and when asoka blooms in spring, he uses its blossoms as one of the
arrows in his quiver. It symbolises Tapana, burning desire.
Look at this beautiful portrayal of kamadeva, with his parrot being
represented of his console Rati and other three women.
Ashoka is also seen as a remedy for women, allowing them to be feminine. The
tree is regarded as a guardian of female chastity. This belief comes from the
Ramayana. Sita, abducted by the demon Ravana, sat in a grove of Ashoka trees
and remained chaste through all the long years that she was forced to stay in
Lanka.