Neem or Margosa

Inhabitants of India recognized the incredible curative and protective powers of Neem, Azadirachta Indica, from the earliest of times. Its English name is Margosa.

Neem is a tropical evergreen, native to India, Southeast Asia and Western Africa. It can grow to 50 feet tall in a good climate, and tolerates both drought and poor soils. It can live up to 200 years. Neem bears fruit after 3 to 5 years but cannot survive freezing temperatures.

Some of the earliest Hindu writings, focus on medicinal herbs and the healing properties of plants. The Vedas, the oldest of the Hindu sacred texts and the basis of the Ayurvedic tradition, detail the use of neem as a medicinal herb.

The very name of the tree, “Nimba,” in the ancient Sanskrit language, tells of its medicinal properties, and means the same as “ Arishta,” the reliever of sickness. “Pinchumada,” is another name of Neem in Sanskrit and means the destroyer of leprosy and healer of skin infections.

Unani scholars knew of Neem. Its properties were beneficial to human health. They named it “ Shajar-e-Munarak ,” or the blessed tree. Persian scholars called Neem “Azad dirakht-I-Hind,” meaning the free tree of India.

The Upavanavinod ’, an ancient Sanskrit treatise dealing with forestry and agriculture, cites neem as a cure for ailing soils, plants and livestock. Neem cake, the residue from the seeds after oil extraction, is fed to livestock and poultry, while its leaves increase soil fertility.

‘The ‘ Brihat Samhita ’ of ‘ Varahamihira ’, dated about 6th century AD, contains a chapter of verses on plant medicines. It recommends that the neem tree be planted near dwellings. Smallpox and chicken pox were cured or staved off with the use of neem leaves.

Obviously these texts were only available to scholars, so for the villager in India, the myths and tales of the beneficence of neem deities, served as a way of ensuring this precious knowledge was not lost over the centuries.

According to ancient myths, Indra - the king of Celestials - bestowed neem with its incredible power while returning to heaven on a sacred white elephant after retrieving a golden pot of ambrosia from the demons. He spilled the ambrosia on a neem tree, making it a tree blessed with virtuous qualities that could remove all diseases.

Another story tells that insects are said to be the creation of evil demons (asuras), and neem protects people from them by weakening the insect's life patterns.

In yet another myth, the Sun God Surya is said to have sought refuge from demons in a neem tree. That tradition is reflected in a belief among some Hindus that anyone who plants three neem trees lives after death in Suryalok (Sun World) for three epochs and never goes to hell.

The neem tree is said to be related to ‘ Dhanavantri ’ (the Aryan god of medicine).
In some parts of India, neem is revered as a manifestation of the Mother Goddess or one of her many incarnations. The neem tree is said to be a manifestation of the Mother Goddess Kali, or Durga. The tree is deified as Neemari Devi.

The Neem goddess is also known as Mariamman, who wields a neem leaf as though it were a sword which strikes out at wounds and disease. Mariamman is often shown holding her neem-leaf sword and a cobra. Throughout Bengal, neem is the tree where Sitala dwells. She is the great Pox-mother who can cause or cure disease.

The multi-headed occult goddess Yellamma (a highly revered goddess in south Indiai) sometimes assumes the appearance of a young neem tree. Young women worship this Goddess by cladding themselves all over in neem branches.

Almost every part of the Neem tree has been documented for some medicinal use. It has been a cradle to grave essential in Indian life since time immemorial. Families often bathe new-born babies in water that has been boiled with neem leaves because of its medicinal and refreshing qualities. In South India, when a mother leaves a baby unattended, she often leaves a small twig of neem leaves near the baby for protection. Thousands of Indians use neem twigs to brush their teeth every day (a tradition recognized by the Indian subsidiary of an international giant that created a neem-based toothpaste).

At funerals, the Puranas urge that family and friends chew neem leaves to protect against lingering infections, and spread more leaves at the threshold of the house where the death occurred - a tradition based on neem's healing powers and dating back to the days when many people died in epidemics.

Many Hindus around the world still celebrate the New Year in March/ April when the Sun enters the sign of Aries, by eating the bitter leaves of neem with a little sweet food to symbolize acceptance of the good with the bad. The tradition also signals the beginning of a season when neem is to be used regularly, since the period after the onset of the New Year is the season when the Pitta dosha is aggravated since in the Ayurvedic tradition, Neem helps to keep the Pitta dosha in balance.

Even Mahatma Gandhi was a believer in neem. Prayer meetings he conducted at the Sabarmati Ashram were held under a neem tree and a neem leaf chutney was a part of his everyday diet.