SIGNIFICANCE OF NEEM TREE

Neems are drought-resistant evergreens in the mahogany family, with small tapering leaves and white, fragrant flowers. The flowers and leaves are used in traditional Indian cooking and small preparations of neem are consumed as part of the New Year’s celebration in several provinces. Deities are sometimes garlanded with offerings of neem flowers and leaves. It is greatly respected for its medicinal uses, including anti-bacterial, anti-viral, anti-fungal, and even sedative properties. It is also commonly used as a “toothbrush.” People in India (as well as Africa and the Middle East) have been chewing on neem twigs to clean their teeth for centuries. In Hindi culture, neem is manifested as the Goddess Durga, also known as Parvati (the wife of Shiva). In some parts of India, the neem tree itself is thought to be a goddess, Neemari Devi. It is associated with Goddess Sitala Devi in the north as well as Goddess  Mariamman in the south, who are both associated with giving and healing of skin ailments like small-pox. The beautiful and famous Jagannatha deities in eastern Odisha are formed from neem wood. Neem flowers, leaves and even smoke from burning the leaves is often used to ward off evil spirits.  

Neem (Azadirachta Indica) is an ancient medicinal tree, celebrated for its remarkable healing properties as far back as 5,000 BCE. Described in ancient Indian Ayurvedic texts as ‘Sarva roga nivarini’ (the universal healer of all ailments) and ‘Nimba’ (giver of good health), neem’s name is ‘Arista’ in Sanskrit – meaning ‘perfect, complete and imperishable’ .

Throughout Indian history and culture, the neem tree has been imbued with spiritual significance and presented as a symbol of health. According to Hindu mythology, the neem tree was born through drops of Amrita (the elixir of immortality) sprinkled onto the Earth by divine beings known as Devas. Neem is  revered as one of the manifestations of the Mother Goddess, Kali or Durga,

The Siddha Medical system, from the Tamil Land, in the south of India, was the foremost medicinal system in the world. It is said to have originated with the Dravidian civilization in the legendary, and now submerged, ancient island of Kumari Kandam, between 10,000 and 4,000 BCE . The wisdom in the Tamil Citta, as this traditional medicine is also known, is said to have come from the Siddhars, or enlightened ones, such as Agathiyar, father of Siddha medicine. 350 year old palm leaf manuscripts attributed to this sage describe several remedies, using neem, to cure and treat a wide range of diseases. One example is the Agathiyar Gunavagadam, which prescribes the neem flowers as treatment for bile disease, the neem leaves for ulcers, and the bark for psychiatric disorders 

Further north, where Pakistan is today, the Indus Valley civilizations of the Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro civilizations were discovered in the beginning of the last century. The excavations of these ancient ruins uncovered the first solid proof (various therapeutic compounds) of the medicinal use of neem for small pox and chickenpox, long before any written records, between 2,600 and 1,800 BCE .

In the Thirumular Thirumantiram-Ennayiram, an ancient Tamil text, one of the earlier written mentions of neem comes to life in the poetic form of the era, circa 200 BCE .

Though known for centuries in rural settings across Asia as the ‘Village Pharmacy’, and while research into neem has been underway in India since the 1920s, it was only in 1959 that a German entomologist in Sudan made a groundbreaking observation. A locust plague surged near his area of study, ravishing all in its path, with exception of the neem tree. This discovery sparked global interest in neem, inspiring several of the world’s most prominent institutions to examine the tree’s agricultural and medicinal applications .