At the turn into Kusinara, in the Mallian sal-tree grove,
Lay the Blessed One's Golden Body, in a befitting manner-

In the story of the Buddha's life, in which all the most significant events occur in the countryside and are associated with trees: his birth at Lumbini as his mother grasped the branch of a sal tree, his early experience of states of meditative absorption beneath the rose apple tree, his Enlightenment beneath the Bodhi-tree, and his Parinirvana (death) between twin sal trees.

Its scientific name is shorea robusta and the family is dipterocarpaceae. In local languages it is called salwa, sakhu, sakher, shal, kandar and sakwa. Sal is a gregarious species and it forms the dominant composition in the forests where it occurs. It grows well in a well-drained, moist, sandy loam soil. It is a moderate to slow growing species and can attain a height of about 30 to 35 m and a girth of about 2 to 2.5 m in about 100 years under favorable conditions.

Sal trees are found from Burma in the East, to Assam, Bengal, Nepal, the Deccan Plateau, going up to the foothills of the Shivaliks on the left bank of the Yamuna. In Haryana, Sal can be found in the Morni Hills and the Kalesar forest. Sal grows well in low height plains to foothills viz. Shivaliks from 200 to 1200 meters above mean sea level. But Sal growing in Nepal and Singhbhum district of Bihar are considered to be the best variety.

Sal tree is seldom completely leafless. In dry regions, however, it tends to shed practically all leaves for a short period from February to April. Fresh leaves appear during April to May depending upon the local climate. These are ovate-oblong in shape and 10 to 25 cm x 5 to 15 cm in size. The texture is tough and coriaceous with a typical shine on upper surface when fully mature.

The sal flowers, whitish in color, appear in early summer. These come out in auxiliary racemos panicles covered with white pubescence. They fruit during summer and the seeds ripen from June to July. These tend to germinate even while on the tree and accordingly begin to fall soon after appearance.

The sap wood in Sal is of small thickness. It is whitish in color and less durable. Heart wood is pale when freshly cut and tends to grow dark brown on exposure. It is coarse grained, hard and of fibrous structure. Annual rings are visible in young trees or on freshly cut wood. Its pores are of moderate size. These are filled with a kind of resin which makes the wood naturally durable.

Sal wood is one of the three naturally lasting timbers of the Asian subcontinent. In fact Sal wood is most suitable for all such applications where strength and elasticity are foremost requirements, and where polishing is not so very essential. Sal wood being so much sought after for construction purposes, its demand is much more than the available supply. The states having good Sal forests earn a lot of revenue.

Sal tree when tapped, yields white opaline resin which is burnt as incense in Hindu homes during religious ceremonies. It is also used for caulking boats and ships. The seeds are used for fat extraction. A kind of oil is also obtained from sal fruit which is used for burning in earthen lamps. It is also misused for adulterating ghee. Further, during famine poor people grind the fruit into flour and eat it to ward off starvation.

The Sal tree is an object of worship among Buddhists and Hindus in India and the adjoining countries. The legend has it that the famous Lumbini tract where Lord Buddha had sat for meditation and acquired salvation constituted a thick forest of Sal trees.

Tag: Sal tree