Just think what are all the things that come to your mind on the moment you think about the rudraksha. It will definitely be renunciation, sages, saints, simplicity, rosary, spiritualism, health, medicine and sorceries etc.
Ruthiraaksham, uruthiarakkam are the various names that the rudraksha has got. We have heard various opinions and beliefs about them. In the puranas*, there are so many exaggerated informations narrating the greatness of the rudraksha. Apart from all those informantions I am going to share certain rare information about the rudraksha and the information told by the Siththars in their songs.
In the northern language the word rudraksha refers to the “eyes of the rudhran”. Rudhran referes to lord Siva. This rudraksha is a seed that is obtained from a fruit of a tree named “ganitrus”. This tree is seen only in certain parts of the world. This tree is found in foot of Himalayan Mountains, valley of the Ganges, Australia and Malaysia. It is said that there are 90 varieties of this species. Out of them 25 varieties are found in countries like India and Nepal.
This tree can grow upto 80 feet height. In Tamilnadu, we can find them in certain regions like palani and nilgiri. In kerala in the parts of thiruvangoor and in Karnataka we can find in the regions of Mysore. The fruits of this tree will be in blue mixed with blackish color or dark blue color with hard shell. The six inch leaves of this tree resembles like that of the leaves of the vaadha tree. If the fully grown leaves shed off then at that place flowers bloom. The flowers of this tree would be in white color.
Though the outer shell of the fruit is very hard to see, the inner part is filled up with the juice of sour taste. The seed that is present at the center of this fruits called as rudraksha. The rudraksha that is found in the Nepal is considered as the best one in the quality. The main market for these rudraksha is the city of Kaasi (Varanasi) present in the state of Uttar Pradesh.
Naturally the rudraksha will be in a violet and black mixed brownish kind of color. Mostly the rudraksha that we find in the shops will be artificially added up with colors. That is the reason they look so bright. Also we can find the fake rudraksha that are made out of lac and plastic. I shall share the details about identifying the fake ones also at the end of this series about the rudraksha.
In the next post we shall see the details about the types and other details about the rudraksha.
*puranas – ancient tales
Original – www.siththarkal.com
Translated by சந்தியா
