Did you know that Pachakarpuram is pure camphor, which is edible and derived from Camphor tree - Cinnamomum camphora - used for religious, medical and culinary purposes but 'Use a pinch' to be on safer side in cusines?
Pachakarpuram is 100 % natural camphor known as Karpooraka in Sanskrit, Karpoor or Pachchaa Karpoora in Hindi, Pachai Karpooram in Tamil, or Pachchaa Karpoora or Cheen Karpooram in Telugu and Kannada, which is derived from the Camphor tree with botanical names such as, Cinnamomum camphora, Camphorwood, and Camphor laurel. Its distilled extract is used for religious purposes in Sri Vaishnava Temples to adorn Lord Venkateshwara such as in Tirumala Tirupati, for making sweets, and used as a herbal medicine to cure many ailments.
The Cinnamomum camphora, commonly known as camphor tree, a large evergreen tree, grows up to 30 m height. Its glossy leaves with waxy appearance and glossy exterior, dark green in colour, smells of camphor when crushed. The tree or the plant blooms in September; flowers are small and white, in clusters of black fruits, approximately 1 cm in diameter. Camphor is a byproduct of this tree, extracted by distillation of its bark or wood and leaves. This tree is cultivated in the sub-Himalayan regions of India, in Dehradun and Bangalore as an ornament in gardens.
There are two types of camphor in India, one is called Edible Camphor which is got from plants and trees and the other is Synthetic Camphor; the latter variety is not edible but generally used in worship to offer aarti to the deities in temples and homes; this synthetic variety is an extract from turpentine oil, and is used in vapor rubs to cure cold and coughs.
The edible variety is pure camphor which is used in many Sri Vaishnava Temples in the form of Urdhvapundra or Nama on the forehead of the deity. This practice of decorating the deity with namam made of pure camphor on the forehead was first initiated by the Sri Vaishnava saint Sage Ramanujacharya in the Tirumala Tirupati temple in the 12th century, when he was in charge of regularizing the religious practices in the temple, as an essential daily religious requirement. This practice is now practiced in many other Sri Vaishnava temples also such as the Srinivasa temple in Balepete in Bangalore and many others all over the world. The purpose behind this practice of the face-mark of Namam, was to ensure that the Venkateshwara idol was exclusively a Sri Vaishnava image as a custom to distinguish it from the Shaiva practice of the Vibhuti mark. Ramanuja decreed that after the holy bath, the Lord Venkateshwara should be decorated with the namam made of Pachakarpura with a paada (base covering th nose); these namam lines ( two vertical white lines with a central red line and a white base) should be of sweet smelling and white paste of powdered Pachakarpura.
Another distinct practice at the Tirumala temple is to cover the chin of the Lord Venkateshwara specially with white powdered Pachakarpura, which was also initiated during sage Ramanuja's time. The story goes that Ramanuja entrusted to his disciple Anantaalwar the task of developing a flower garden at Tirumala for the exclusive use of the daily worship of the Lord. Anantaalwar and his wife took up this task very seriously as a religious task , exclusively working in the garden by themselves without any external help. But Anantaalwar's wife was pregnant at the time and used to feel fatigued working in the field. Then, Lord Sri Venkateswara took pity on the lady, appeared as a 12 year young boy started helping her in the task of digging and carrying away debris. But when Anantaalwar noticed this he became furious, scolded his wife for disobeying him, and attacked the boy by throwing a crowbar and hitting the boy on the chin. The boy, bleeding from his wound, ran away from the scene and disappeared into the Tirumala temple. It was after seeing the injured boy disappearing in front of his eyes into the sanctum sanctorum of the temple, a shocked Ananthaalwar realized what a grave error he had committed in a fit of rage. When Ananthaalwar rushed into the sanctum sanctorum to report the incident to the Lord, to his utter dismay and shock he found the idol of Lord Venkateshwara bleeding at the chin but with an enigmatic smile. In great shock with tears rolling Ananthalwar apologized to the Lord for his grave mistake in hurting him unknowingly and sought Lord's pardon. Lord Venkateshwara then appeared before Ananthaalwar and directed him to apply green camphor to His bleeding chin as it would keep His chin cool and cured. He also made it mandatory that "Green Camphor or Pachakarpuram should be applied to His chin everyday as long as He resided on the Tirumala hills.”. Since then it has become a sacred tradition in the Tirumala Temple to apply Pachakarpoora or Green Camphor to the holy Lord’s chin every day.
Pachakarpuram, which has a pungent taste and strong fragrant odor, is used as camphor oil for medicinal purposes such as: To cure cough, cold, flu and fever; for inflammatory conditions of arthritis, etc,; its powder as cardiac stimulator; to cure hysteria and diarrhea; with alcohol to cure cholera; and to cure fungal infections of the toenails and warts, also used as ear drops. It is also used as a snake repellent and placed in an iron storehouse for protecting iron against rust. However, its use is avoided in aromatherapy as it is highly toxic; can cause vomiting if used in excess; patients suffering from diseases like epilepsy and pregnant women should completely avoid it.
Its culinary use is for preparing sweets such as Tirupati Laddus, Rava Laddus, Payasam, etc.
It is a general belief that burning camphor before the god signifies the act of union and termed as fire scarifies to god - burning ego and arrogance before the god like camphor without leaving any trace. This camphor light drives ghosts, evil forces and negative energies away.
- Narasipur Char
