Research paper written by london swaminathan

research article No. 1602; Dated 25th January 2015.

Hindu wonders in a Muslim Country, Flowers in Tamil culture and Sanskrit Inscriptions in Strange places have listed lot of wonders in Indonesia and India’s obsession with flowers. Now I have come across another surprise in Indonesia, the largest Muslim country in the world. They had a kingdom named after Shiva’s favourite tree Vilva/Bilva.

Links

Hindu wonders in a Muslim country

https://tamilandvedas.com/2012/05/12/hindu-wonders-in-a-muslim-country/

Flowers in Tamil Culture

https://tamilandvedas.com/2012/08/25/flowers-in-tamil-culture/

Sanskrit Inscriptions in Strange places

https://tamilandvedas.com/2012/03/16/ancient-sanskrit-inscriptions-in-strange-places/

The Sugarcane Mystery: Indus Valley and Ikshwaku Dynasty

http://swamiindology.blogspot.co.uk/2011/11/sugarcane-mystery-indus-valley-and.html

Bilva ( in Tamil Vilvam; Holy Bael in English) tree belongs to Rutaceae family and the botanical name of the tree is Aegle marmalos. The leaves are offered to Lord Shiva and the fruits are used as medicine. The tree controls 21 types of Bacteria. In Nepal girls are ritually married to the Bilva fruits. The tree is called Maja in Indonesia. Majapahit meant bitter Maja. German orientalist Berthold Laufer found out why the empire that ruled Jawa for 200 years from 1293 was called Majapahit. It was named after the Maja tree.

It is common to name kingdoms after plants in India. The first dynasty of India was Ikshwaku dynasty. Ikshu is nothing but sugarcane. he was the one who taught sugarcane cultivation. Sugar is discovered in Indus valley Civilization and Ikshwaku must have ruled India before the Indus Valley civilization.

Please read my research paper;links are given above.

Following the Ikshwakus,  Pallavas named their kingdom after a creeper or twigs (pallavas), Kadamba dynasty after Kadamba trees. Sunga dynasty is also said to have plant’s name

Naming a dynasty after a plant is typical Hindu custom. Hindus are so obsessed with plants, they named the continents of the earth after plants. They named India that is Bharat as Jambudweepa and other continents as  Kusa dweepa, Shalmali dweepa, Plaksha dweepa, Sakah dweepa. Jambu, Kusa, Shalmali and Ska are plants.Tamils followed it and named their land divisions after local plants such as Kurinji, Neithal, Marutham,Mullai and Palai.

Tamils went one step ahead and wore flowers even when they went to war. They gave flower names to different stages in war. Both men and women wore flowers.

Majapahits of Indonesia used Saka era like Indian kings. The first King was Jayawardhana and his wives names were Tribhuvaneswari, Prajnaparamita, Naredraduhita and Gayathri Raja Patni. Since South East Asian countries had Hindu kings from first century CE, it was not a suprisse. Tamil King Sri Mara ( Tiru Mara in Tamil, a Pandya king) ruled Vietnam in the second century CE.

Please read my article Tamil King who ruled Vietnam

http://swamiindology.blogspot.co.uk/2011/09/pandya-king-who-ruled-vietnam.html

Names of dynasties are interesting. There were Maurya named after peacock (Mayura), Snake (Naga) and Mushika ( Mouse) dynasties in India.

additional references:

Cadamba tree= Neolamarckia cadamba

Sugarcane= Saccharum officinarum

Holy Bael/Bilva = Aegle marmalos

Jambu dweepa= Blackberry Tree

Plaksha dweepa = Ficus tree

Pushkra dweepa = Maple tree

Kusa dweepa = Dharba grass

Shalmali dweepa = Bombax ceiba or malabaricum

Pictures are taken from Wikipedia and other sites.Thanks.

swami_48@yahoo.com