to cultivate Sandalwood. We discuss the future of Sandalwood and the role of people
participation especially in conservation and utilisation of Indian Sandalwood.
Keywords Indian Sandalwood Á Conservation Á Production Á Utilisation
1 Introduction
Indian Sandalwood (Santalum album L.) has been an integral part of Indian culture
and is one of the prized woods in Indian Forestry. Globally, Sandalwood is known
for its valuable heartwood (the inner dead wood part of the tree) and the oil that is
distilled from the heartwood has a huge demand in the international market. In fact,
the fragrance of the oil and the wood is so profound that it is venerated by,
Hinduism, Buddhism and Islams, which are the three major religions of the world.
According to various Sanskrit manuscripts, Sandalwood oil is considered to be one
of the oldest known perfume materials (more than 4000 years). Burdock and
Carabin (2008) mentions that way back Egyptians had been importing this wood
and used it for medicine purpose, embalming and ritual burning to venerate the
gods. The Sandalwood paste obtained by rubbing wood on the stone with a little
water is used in spiritual and ritualistic practices. The wood is also used in death
rituals, as it is considered that the soul is carried back to its eternal abode with the
scent of Sandalwood.
Sandalwood tree is one of those few tree species which has been prudently
utilised in Subhashitas—which are wise sayings that describe code of conduct and
ethics (Arun Kumar et al. 2012). The stanzas which are composed in Sanskrit
decipher various aspects of life as it guides and protects a person from wavering
thoughts and actions. To describe the saying ‘excessive familiarity breeds contempt
and repeated visit brings disrespect'—it is mentioned that a tribal woman living in
Malaya Mountain which has Sandalwood in abundance, uses Sandalwood as a fuel
wood. The same Sandalwood is highly valued in the outside world as it is not easily
available. To stress that good things are not common and has to be valued, it is
described that “not every mountain has precious stones, not every elephant has
pearls, Sandalwood is not found in every forest, and similarly saintly persons are
not found everywhere”. To understand the value of being a good or saintly person
and useful to others, it has been written that “one should see how Sandalwood tree
is selfless, the roots of the Sandalwood tree provide shelter to snakes, on the crown
birds take rest while monkeys play on its branches and flowers are used by bees”.
The value of Sandalwood can be summarised by quoting what our own Nobel
Laureate and great poet Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore described Sandalwood tree
as—“The sandal tree as if to prove, how sweet to conquer hate, love, perfumes the
axe that lays it low”. All these indicate the value and divinity this important tree
possess and its influence in our day-to-day life. Being a prized product of Indian
forests, Sandalwood is commercially known as Indian Sandalwood and its oil
Indian Sandalwood oil.
378
A.N. Arunkumar et al.
participation especially in conservation and utilisation of Indian Sandalwood.
Keywords Indian Sandalwood Á Conservation Á Production Á Utilisation
1 Introduction
Indian Sandalwood (Santalum album L.) has been an integral part of Indian culture
and is one of the prized woods in Indian Forestry. Globally, Sandalwood is known
for its valuable heartwood (the inner dead wood part of the tree) and the oil that is
distilled from the heartwood has a huge demand in the international market. In fact,
the fragrance of the oil and the wood is so profound that it is venerated by,
Hinduism, Buddhism and Islams, which are the three major religions of the world.
According to various Sanskrit manuscripts, Sandalwood oil is considered to be one
of the oldest known perfume materials (more than 4000 years). Burdock and
Carabin (2008) mentions that way back Egyptians had been importing this wood
and used it for medicine purpose, embalming and ritual burning to venerate the
gods. The Sandalwood paste obtained by rubbing wood on the stone with a little
water is used in spiritual and ritualistic practices. The wood is also used in death
rituals, as it is considered that the soul is carried back to its eternal abode with the
scent of Sandalwood.
Sandalwood tree is one of those few tree species which has been prudently
utilised in Subhashitas—which are wise sayings that describe code of conduct and
ethics (Arun Kumar et al. 2012). The stanzas which are composed in Sanskrit
decipher various aspects of life as it guides and protects a person from wavering
thoughts and actions. To describe the saying ‘excessive familiarity breeds contempt
and repeated visit brings disrespect'—it is mentioned that a tribal woman living in
Malaya Mountain which has Sandalwood in abundance, uses Sandalwood as a fuel
wood. The same Sandalwood is highly valued in the outside world as it is not easily
available. To stress that good things are not common and has to be valued, it is
described that “not every mountain has precious stones, not every elephant has
pearls, Sandalwood is not found in every forest, and similarly saintly persons are
not found everywhere”. To understand the value of being a good or saintly person
and useful to others, it has been written that “one should see how Sandalwood tree
is selfless, the roots of the Sandalwood tree provide shelter to snakes, on the crown
birds take rest while monkeys play on its branches and flowers are used by bees”.
The value of Sandalwood can be summarised by quoting what our own Nobel
Laureate and great poet Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore described Sandalwood tree
as—“The sandal tree as if to prove, how sweet to conquer hate, love, perfumes the
axe that lays it low”. All these indicate the value and divinity this important tree
possess and its influence in our day-to-day life. Being a prized product of Indian
forests, Sandalwood is commercially known as Indian Sandalwood and its oil
Indian Sandalwood oil.
378
A.N. Arunkumar et al.