Bakul is one of several sacred trees from India that have ended up here, and this one comes with a genuinely wild bit of religious history attached.
The Basics
Bakul, Mimusops elengi, also called bullet wood or Spanish cherry, is native to India and tropical Southeast Asia.
Origin and Habitat
Native across India and tropical Asia, and considered sacred in Hindu tradition, often planted near temples.
What It Looks Like
Small, star shaped, creamy white flowers with a sweet fragrance that reportedly holds even after they’ve been dried, which is why they get strung into leis.
Uses and Flavor
The whole tree is used in ayurvedic medicine, especially for dental care and oral hygiene. The cherries themselves are sweet and edible, though there isn’t much pulp on them, enough of them together could probably be turned into a jam. There’s a place in western India called Siddha Bakul in Puri where, according to tradition, a devotee named Haridasa Thakur chanted the names of Krishna 300,000 times a day underneath a bakul tree.
Growing It Here
Planted as part of a small run of sacred Indian trees that have found their way into the food forest, right next to a tall pheasant wood tree. It’s already over 8 feet tall and clearly taking advantage of that company, this one’s going to become a huge tree once I give it a bit more room to spread out.
Pests and Diseases to Watch For
Nothing to report yet, still young.
Kenta’s Take
Three hundred thousand chants a day under one of these trees is a level of devotion I can’t fully wrap my head around, but I like that our little bakul, already pushing 8 feet and growing fast, carries that kind of story with it.