ATHI MARAM, FICUS RACEMOSA ( When it blooms once in three thousand years,,)

According to Budhist belief,Fiicus trees bloom only once in three thousand years.

It is a celestial flower which does not exist in the material world,When the king of the golden wheel ,Thathagatha  visits the human world, it flowers manifesing virtues and blessing.There It comes to symbolize events of strange occurence. Thathagatha comes  to earth;  turns the wheel  ,maintains law and  save oppressed people.

Ficus is a genus of tropical trees ,shrubs  which are mostly evergreen.It is a relatively an ancient genus being at least sixty million years old. Really the unseen flower  is a legend or myth developed to explain  the absence of a visual flower. The  truth is that the flowers are enclosed within the fruit. The fig fruit is a multiple fruit in which the flowers and seeds grow together to form  single mass.The flowers are arranged on the inner surface of the fruit. Tiny wasps crawl through the opening of the fruits  in a search of a suitable place to lay eggs and nourishment for the next generation of wasps, the wasps helps pollination of figs happen.

The fig tree is often taken as the first tree in the Bible in Genesis

‘’And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves aporns,,’’

Athi maram or Ficus racemosa is  called Indian Fig tree,cluster fig tree . it is very unusual that the fruits  grow close to the body.

Nalpamaram is an Ayurvedic medicine   prepared by mixing the barks of the four  trees of ficus genus.Ficus racemosa , Ficus micro carpa,Ithi, ficus religiosa,Peepal tree, and Ficus benghalenis ,banyan tree.

Nalpamaram is considered as an effective medicine for skin ailments,Athi  is a medicine for various disorders such as liver disorders,diarrhea, inflamatory conditions.the tree posses anti pyretic  (that alleviate fever.),anti filarial ,anti fungal properties.

The dark green leaves are ovate and petiolate.They are shed by december.

and replenished by January.Fig fruits are globular or depressed   pear shaped.

It is one of the trees mentioned in the ancient scriptures of Ayurveda.The Sanskrit name

Yajnanga,Yajnayasara ,’Yajna yoga are synonyms of the plant.This suggest the ritual significance in ritual sacrifices Yajna.The plant grows all over india.