Draupadiya dhande

Feb 10, 2012

The purpose of the day's travel was to attend a friend's wedding at Kavadikere. A then colleague Veena who had introduced this friend hailed from Idagundi a village near Yellapur town. At Veena's home I got an invitation to visit an organic jaggery making mill. Since we had time and also the mill was a short drive away, I accepted the invitation. I'd seen jaggery mill at Bhadravati during my childhood years, it was called aalemanae. Also, I'd seen one each near Shravanabelagola and Basava Kalyan. In the northern districts of Karnataka it's called bellad-gaana.

It was an interesting drive, I was captivated by the greenery. A small stretch of the way was lined with white-pink flowered plants. The plants had more flowers and less leaves, the flowers had sprouted off the stems.

I can't remember if I asked or Veena volunteered.. this plant is called Draupadiya Dhande. The name is connected to Mahabharata character Draupadi, there must a story behind this connection. Commonly it is called Gobbarada Gida which literally means fertilizer plant. Its English name is Mexican Lilac or Quickstick.

More flowers, no leaves. I guess this plant sheds its leaves when it starts flowering which seems to happen once a year. Interesting plant, isn't it.

One of the tallest Mexican Lilac plants was more than 20' tall.

Also, I do not remember if Veena told the connection between this plant and Draupadi. I must contact her and find out.

We arrived at the saavayava bellada-gaana (organic jaggery mill) which was right next to the sugarcane field. I have to mention here that most farmers in and around Yellapur grow organic produce. Even the sugarcane here was organically grown. The mill was a simple and efficient setup operated by two family members and one worker. Two types of jaggery were produced- liquid and solid. The owner couple offered us freshly extracted cane juice which we gladly accepted and relished. It was a memorable outing. Thanking our hosts, I headed towards the wedding venue Kavadikere with Veena and her cousin Mahesh in tow.

In the Hindu culture, there's a bond between Nature and our legends like Ramayana and Mahabharata. We already know one example of the latter. Let me mention an example with the latter- Siteya-seragu ~ Sita's seragu. The Kannada word seragu refers to the part of a sari which drapes across the woman's chest. If you've climbed on granite mounds or hillocks you might've seen naturally formed random light-colored bands or stripes. Such bands are called Siteya-seragu. Then we have the fruits Sita-phal, Raam-phal, and even a Lakshman-phal. What else..

..do share such examples in the comments section.

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