The weird and mysterious Naga Linga or Shiva Linga tree

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The Nagalinga or Shiva Linga tree has been grown widely in Shiva temples across India. In Hindi, it is also called Shiv Kamal or Kailaspati. Other names are the Nagalingam in Tamil, Nagalinga Pushpa in Kannada, Nagamalli or Mallikarjunaflowers in Telugu. Hindus have revered it as a sacred tree for thousands of years. Interestingly the petals of the Naga Linga flower resemble the hood a snake.
In English, it is known as Cannonball tree. The tree is named because of its fruits that look like a cannonball. The tree produces large, spherical fruits. The Cannonball Tree was named botanically as Couroupita guaiane NSIS by the French botanist J.F. Aublet in the year 1755.

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The Shiva linga tree can grow up to 35 meters tall.  Some Shiva linga trees give many flowers. The full trunk looks covered in flowers. Amazingly one tree can bear up to 1000 flowers per day! The flowers have a strong scent, and it increases at night or in the early morning.
The flowers of the Shiva linga tree are comparatively larger and can grow up to 6 cm in width. Those are brightly colored with the six petals. In the flowers, you can see shades of pink, red and yellow.
In the center of the flower, there are the stamens and the arrangement of these stamens look like into a hood. However, these flowers do not have nectar but are very attractive to bees coming for the pollen.

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The fruit of the cannonball tree is also fascinating. Fruit can contain about 65 seeds, but the larger fruits can have about 550 seeds. One tree can bear about 150 fruits. It takes a long time for the fruit to mature. It will take at least one year and in some places; it takes almost 18 months.
The Cannonball fruit is edible and is commonly fed to cattle and livestock. The Naga Linga tree has many medicinal benefits. The extracts of the tree have been used to treat hypertension, tumors, pain and inflammation.
It also heals common cold and stomach ache. It aids in skin conditions and wounds and is very effective against malaria and toothache. Studies by scientists have shown that the extracts of this tree have antimicrobial abilities.

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One interesting fact about the cannonball tree is that its fruits as quite large, round and thick just like a cannonball. When these fruits fall on the ground, these make such a loud sound that people fear that an explosive has burst. For safety reasons, these trees are never planted near footpaths or passages as anyone could get hurt by this falling fruit. When the fruits get ripened and fall on earth, they burst open with this loud crack and a smell comes off. This attracts animals and insects to come and eat it. Then they spread the seeds through their dung.
You can find these amazing trees commonly around in Shiva temples in India and in Buddhist temples in Sri Lanka and Thailand. Like Hindus, Buddhists also consider it sacred.

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