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From the dawn of civilization human beings treat trees with love and affection. They gave food and shelter to them. This may be the beginning of tree worship. All the culture of world had treated the trees. 184

with much reverence. We can see traces of tree worship from the period of Indus Valley civilization. 68 Vedas provide the literary evidence for tree worship. The forest as a whole appears as a deity under the name, Aryanyani in Rg-veda.鈸嘊 Aryanakas, Upanishads, Ithihasas and Puranas have a lot of references about of tree worship. Trees like Asvatha, Bilva, Thulsi, etc are consider to be not only by Hindus but also by Budhists. Asvatha or pipal tree is worshipped by Hindus and Budhists, but also Jains. Jains Asvatha worship can be traced to Indus valley civilization. Rg-veda defines the cosmos as a tree of thousand branches. In vedic texts Asvatha is said to be the abode of all Gods (Ast vatha- devesadanah) luxury the third heaven (tritiyasyemi to divi). In later vedic texts, Asvatha is considered as Brahma-taru. Kathoparisad developed the Rgvedic concept of Asvatha as universe. In Bhagavat Gita Krishna proclaims that he is the Asvatha among trees. Mahabharata says that, the man who worships Asvatha everyday, worships the whole universe. This tree is worshipped by Brahmins daily during their evening prayer. The worshippers walk around the tree, 7, 14, 21, 28, 35 or more times but always on multiple of seven. There is a myth among the tribals that the roots of represents Brahma, its balk represents Vishnu and its branches Siva". Lord Siva who is seated under the fane of Asvatha is called as Dakshinamurthi. Budhists have regards asvatha very sacred, because Budha became Budha (The enlightened) who he was meditating under the shade of an 185

Asvatha tree. Jains also consider the same tree as their sacred Chaitya tree, related to the fourteenth tirthamkara Anantaitha. Tree worship in Sucindrasthalamahatmya As a work evolved from Indian tradition many parts of Sucindrasthalamahatmya refer the tree worship. According to the work hermitage Atri is a forest and is called Jnanarnya. The holy tree of Sucindrasthalamahatmya is Asvatha. The auther expresses the vedic concept that the Asvatha is in the form of all gods. Sucindrasthalamahatmya sacrifices the concept of tribals that the tip of asvatha represents Brahma, middle represents Siva. This reminds Asvatha Pradaksinamantra. The Asvatha is said to be the tree of life. This conept is common in the folklore of many ancient cultures all over the world. It is also said to be ever green; ever blooming and great. Importance of the Worship of Asvatha The trimurties says that the person who prays the Asvatha tree, which is in their form, will get liberation. The author upholds the supremacy of Asvatha worship. One who worship Sivalinga without worshipping the Asvatha tree, will not get the results. It is just like offering oblation to the ashes instead of holy fire. They will get the fruits same to those who do not feed their parents. And their fate will be just like the Brahmins those do not study Vedas. The auther proclaims that no other form of worship is equal to the worship of holy Asvatha. The Lord of Sucindram is said to be the lord of Asvatha. Transformation of Asvatha 186

The author introduced the concept of transformation of the holy tree in four yugas. According to him the holy tree is Asvatha in Krtayuga, Tulsi in treat yuga, Vilva in dvaparayuga and Rajavrksa in Kaliyuga. In tretayuga Asvatha assumes the form Thulsi. It is not mere a shrub, but it has the divine shape of a tree, which is the form of trimurthis. It is filled with nectar which give liberation from sins even at a glance. In dvapara the holy tree is transformed in to vilva It is also the form of trimurtis. ie, Stanu, Vishnu and Aja. It is filled with (Om ! Namasivaya) and in Pancamurtis (Surya, Ganapathi, Rudra and Kesava). Those who propiate Sankara with the holy leaves of vilva tree will surely reach Kailsa, the abode of lord Siva. In Kaliyuga, the Loly tree transforms in to Rajavrksa. Those whose circumambulates the wholly the holy tree on Sivaratri, they will get the holiness of circumambulates. of the entire universe. The Asvatha which is described on Sucindrasthalamahatmya is not an ordinary. Actually it is the vedic concept of Asvatha. Those is pointed out on the 46 verse of the eight chapter of Sucindrasthalamahatmya the There is a shrine inside the Sucindram temple which is said to be nucleus of the huge temple complex. The shrine is known as Konraiyadinathar. It is said that the holy Konrai tree in side the shrine is of years old. The belief is that the trimurti s appealed before Atri in this 2000 spot. In short the suther of Sucindrasthalamahatmya connects this local tradition and the vedic concept of Asvatha and glorifies the Sucindrum temple. 187