The charoli tree produces fruit that is edible to humans.[3] The seeds are used as a cooking spice, especially in India.[4] Charoli seeds are also used in the Ayurveda, Unani, and Siddha systems of medicine.[2]
The tree grows to about 20 metres (66 feet). Young branches are covered with dense, matted, woolly hairs. The leaves are 10–20 by 6–9 centimetres (3.9–7.9 by 2.4–3.5 inches), broadly oblong with emarginate (slightly indented at the tip) apices and rounded bases. The flowers are white and 0.3–0.4 centimetres (0.12–0.16 inches) in diameter. The drupes are 0.4–1 centimetre (0.16–0.39 inches) in diameter and subglobose (inflated, but not quite spherical) in shape. When ripe, they are stone hard and reddish-purple in color.[5] Flowering occurs March–April, and the fruit is generally harvested in the months of April to June.[6]
Though sometimes referred to as the "chironji nut" or "charoli nut",[2][4][10] the fruit is actually a type of drupe rather than a true botanical nut.[5] After the hard shell of the drupe is cracked, the stubby seed within is similar in texture to a pine nut.[10] The charoli seed is around 0.6 centimetres (0.24 inches) in length, with a flavor resembling an almond or a pistachio.[11] The seeds are used as a cooking spice, especially in Indian cuisine. Though they can be eaten raw, they are often toasted or roasted before use, as this intensifies the flavor of any nut or seed. They are commonly used in sweets in India, or ground into powders for thickening and flavoring savory sauces, batters and kormas.[10]
The species is not commercially cultivated in India. The fruit is collected by local people from the forests and sold directly to the local markets. With a potential annual production of 5000 metric tonnes, Chhattisgarh is the highest-producing state in India for charoli fruit.[6]Leafhoppers, mealybugs, and bark-eating caterpillars (Indarbela spp.) are important pestsofB. cochinchinensis, while gummosis and powdery mildew represent important pathogens.[6]
Circa 588 BCE,[12] the 35-year-old[13]Siddhartha Gautama stayed for seven weeks (7x7 days = 49 days = 1 sattasattāha) at Uruvela (modern Bodh Gaya), which is located in the present-day IndianstateofBihar. According to the Great Chronicle of Buddhas, he spent one week at each of seven successive locations there.[14] During these seven weeks, he did not eat or drink, wash or excrete, or lie down.[15][16][17] The specific locations were:
Week 1: the Week on the Aparājita Throne (Pallanka Sattāha). After meditating under the Bodhi Tree for seven days and nights, he attained enlightenment, becoming the spiritual teacher known as the Buddha and the founder of Buddhism.[18]
Week 2: the Week of the Gaze (Animisa Sattāha)[19]
Week 3: the Week on the Walk (Cankama Sattāha)[20]
Week 4: the Week at the Golden House (Ratanāghara Sattāha)[21]
Week 7: the Week at the Rājāyatana Tree (Rājāyatana Sattāha)[15]
The seventh week was passed while sitting under a rājāyatana (B. cochinchinensis) tree, where the Buddha enjoyed the bliss of his newly attained buddhahood.[16][24][25] Upon the completion of this sattasattāha, several important "firsts" in Buddhism took place at the rājāyatana tree at Bodh Gaya, including:
According to Burmese folklore, Tapussa and Bhallika (the two passing merchants who became the Buddha's first lay disciples) later returned to their home in Okkalapa (Lower Burma), where they built a cetiyaonSinguttara Hill (the Shwedagon Pagoda), where they enshrined the hair relics given to them by the Buddha.[27][30]
^Theragāthā Commentary 1.1-7: "Commentary on the stanza of Bhalliya Thera". Translation in Woodward, F.L., 1940, 1952, 1959, 'Theragāthā-aṭṭhakathā: the commentary of Dhammapālācariya', 3 volumes, Pali Text Society London
Howes, Frank Norman (1948). "Miscellaneous and Little-known Nuts". Nuts: Their Production and Everyday Uses. London: Faber and Faber. Archived from the original on 27 January 2023. Retrieved 27 January 2023.
Quattrocchi, Umberto (2012). "Buchanania Sprengel Anacardiaceae". CRC World Dictionary of Medicinal and Poisonous Plants: Common Names, Scientific Names, Eponyms, Synonyms, and Etymology. New York: Taylor & Francis Group. ISBN978-1482250640. Archived from the original on 12 March 2023. Retrieved 27 January 2023.
Singh, N.P.; Karthikeyan, S., eds. (2000). "Buchanania Spreng.". Flora of Maharashtra State(PDF). Flora of India. Vol. 1 (1st ed.). Kolkata: Botanical Survey of India. Archived(PDF) from the original on 26 January 2023. Retrieved 26 January 2023.