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Crocus sativus L. in Pandanus database of Indian plant names
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  Crocus sativus L. details in Pandanus database of Indian plant names

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 Latin nameCrocus sativus L.
 FamilyIridaceae
 Identified with (Skt)kuṅkuma, kesara
 Identified with (Pkt)kesara
 Identified with (Hin)kesar, sāphran
 Identified with (Ben)kuṅkum
 Identified with (Tam)kuṅkumappū, irattam
 Identified with (Mal)kuṅkumappūvu, kēsaram, kuṅkumam
 Identified with (Eng)Saffron
 Botanical infoA perennial plant up to 25cm high, bulbous, blue flowers with orange stigmas which are known as saffron spice when dried, cultivated in Kashmir in elevation over 1600m.
 Search occurrencekuṅkuma, kesara, kesara, in the Pandanus database of Sanskrit e-texts
 See plant's imageCrocus sativus L. in Google image search
 Encyclopedias &
 Dictionaries

Monier-Williams: A Sanskrit-English Dictionary (p. 310)
kesara, n. the hair (of the brow) VS. xix, 91; (in classical literature usually keśara) m. or n. (?), the mane (of a horse or lion) R. Śak. Pañcat. &c.; (ā) f. id. Kātyśr. (kes-); (am) n. the tail of the Bos grunniens (used as a fan for driving away flies), L.; (as, L.; am) m. n. the filament of a lotus or of any vegetable R. Suśr. Śak. &c.; a fibre (as of a Mango fruit) Suśr.; m. the plants Rottleria tinctoria, Mimusops elengi, and Mesua ferrea MBh. xiii, 5042 R. Lalit. Kum. Megh. 311,1; (am) n. the flower of those plants, L.; (as, ā, am) mf. n. Asafoetida, L.; (am) n. gold, L.; sulphate of iron, L.; N. of a metre (of 4 x 18 syllables); m. N. of a mountain MBh. vi, 11, 23; cf. Lat. caesaries; Angl. Sax. haer; Eng. hair; Germ. Haar.

Monier-Williams: A Sanskrit-English Dictionary (p. 287)
kuṅkuma, n. saffron (Crocus sativus, the plant and the pollen of the flowers) Suśr. Ragh. Bhartṛ. &c.

Tamil Lexicon, University of Madras (p. 312)
irattam: 1. Blood; 2. Red, crimson; 3 lungs, liver, spleen and other viscera.; 4. Coral; 5. Saffron, Crocus sativus; 6. Stick lac

Dymock, Warden, Hooper: Pharmacographia Indica (vol. III, pp. 453-458)
Crocus sativus, Irideae
Saffron, on account of its brilliant yellow colour, like that of the rising sun, has been especially valued by mankind from the earliest ages; in Sanskrit it bears the name of Kunkuma (a name also given in India to the red colour prepared from turmeric), and is described as Charu "fair," Vara "suitor," Agnisikha "having a crest of fire," Saurabha "fragrant," Mangalya "propitious," &c. In Persian the word Zard, derived from the Zend, signifies "yellow, and saffron," and Zardah-i-kamrān "the fortunate yellow." Saffron is the Kark"m of the Hebrews, a name borrowed from the Persians, and in the Song of Solomon the beauty of the bride is likened to it. Amongst the Greeks -*- signified both saffron and yellow; Eos or Aurora, the goddess of the morning, is clothed in it, and in Homer she is described as accompanying the Sun throughout the day.
Yellow, and plants having that colour, have also an erotic signification, hence we find them playing an important part in marriage ceremonies and the relations betweens the sexes: June in the Iliad is represented as preparing a bed of saffron and hyacinths when she wishes to tempt Jove, and Jayadeva in the Gita Govinda represents Hari as inviting Radha to repose upon a bed made of the saffron-coloured flowers of the Asoka. The following lines indicate the significance which is attached to this colour in popular estimation in India:- Sānjh suni piyā āvan piyāri, sundar nāri singār banāi, Piar kesar, piar besar, piar hār liya larkāi, Piar chir diyo kamlāpati, piar chandar de lagāi, Piar pān ki biri lagi, piyāri piri bhai, piu nahin āi.
"The loved one heard that her lover would come in the evening, and made a grand toilette: yellow saffron, a yellow nose-ring, and a threaded necklace of yellow flowers. She has donned a yellow robe, applied yellow sandalwood, and placed ripe yellow betel leaves in her mouth. The damsel herself has grown yellow waiting for a lover who has not come."
The Grecian Hetairae and also effeminate youths used to wear the -*-, or "saffron coloured garment," and the Arabs relate that Abu Jahl dyed his 'ist' with saffron, and was addicted to the enormity, termed 'ubnah'. He was a great enemy of the Prophet's, and is promised in the Koran a taste of Hell (-*-). A similar use of saffron by the libidinous old witch Zatel-Dawahi is mentioned in the 93rd night of the Arabian Nights:- -*-.
Magic properties are ascribed to saffron in Persia; Haji-Zein-el-Attār (1368) states that it is called Jādō-i-dihkān, "peasant's magic," and that pregnant women wear a ball of it, about the size of a walnut, at the pit of the stomach to ensure speedy delivery and expulsion of the after-birth. The saffron bag was not unknown in Europe in the Middle Ages, and even later. The Arabs believe that saffron kept in the house will dry away the lizard called Sam Abras, which they greatly dread; they also say of a man who is melancholy or a little odd ('innahu lafi sufrihi'), i.e., that he is in a state in which he requires to be rubbed with saffron.
Zardāb, of saffron water, is considered to have magical virtues in Persia, and we hear Indian conjurors ascribe the same virtues to turmeric water when they say 'Pihalad āni ho gora' in the sense of "Hocus Pocus," &c. Saffron ink is used in India to write Mantras with. The auspiciousness is attributed to those plants on account of their colour, and not on account of any inherent properties, is shown by the fact that other plants furnishing yellow dyes are considered auspicious. In Persia Delphinium Zalil is much esteemed as a yellow dye, and is even bought to India for that purpose, where it bears the Sanskrit names of Trāyamāna "preserving," Mangalya "auspicious," &c. It is quite possible that this plant was used in ancient Iran before saffron, as the word trāyamāna occurs in old Persian with the meaning of "yellow." Dr. Aitchinson speaks of D. Zalil as very common in Khorasan, and remarks that when it flowers it gives a wondrous golden hue to the pastures.
A yellow colour is considered most auspicious in the East. Vasanta, or Spring, and Krishna are represented as clothed in this colour, and Vasanti-coloured garments are worn at the Basant panchami in many parts of India; at this season also garlands of yellow flowers are offered. This custom is alluded to in the Bāramāsa, where the wife says:- Nahin ghar kanth, leke basant ghar mālan, Main kaise pōjōn, sakhi, nahin ghar sājan.
"My husband is away, and the gardener's wife has brought (yellow) spring flowers. How can I make an offering, my dear, when my beloved is absent?"
A yellow garment, called Basanti, was worn by the Rajputs when about to sacrifice themselves in a desperate conflict, a sacrifice to their supposed ancestor Surya (the sun). Yellow is the favourite colour of the Buddhists, and the Sakya family was a branch of the great Solar race of Gautama. S‚nart considers that the Buddha is the Sun-god, and that the details of his life have been taken from Solar mythology,
The use of saffron and turmetic for colouring and flavouring food is universal throughout India, and saffron is still used for this purpose in Germany, Switzerland, and in Cornwall, cakes made on festive occasions being coloured with it. There is a curious story about saffron-coloured rice in the Persian Burhān, where it is called Birinj-i-shamālah, "candle rice." The author relates that in former times there was a cook at Shiraz, who was in the habit of sitting by the roadside every evening and preparing a dish with yellow rice, before which he lighted two lamps, or sometimes two torches, and cried out- "Come to the rice of the candle," and repeated the following couplet:- -*-. "The lights which burnt in the heart of Bushāk were kindled by the passing of the light of the rice of the candle."
Who was Bushāk, or Bashāk? We cannot help thinking that he must have been some sturdy fire-worshipper testifying, as far as he dared, in the presence of a Mahomedan population, to his ancient faith. As the story was an old one when the Burhān was written, it shows at any rate that the use of saffron-coloured rice in Persia is of great antiquity. The earliest European travellers in India called turmeric Crocus indicus, "Indian saffron," and evidently regarded it as a substitute for that article. In those days saffron was of much more importance in Europe than it is now, and the punishment for adulterating it was death.
Saffron was much employed by the Romans for seasoning food, and to make an essence with wine and water which was used as a perfume (Pliny, 21, 6, 17; Lucretius, ii., 416; Ovid. A. A. 104, &c.). The name Zāfarān occurs in the Sihāh of El Jowhari who wrote in the 10th century, and from Arabian writers (Istakhri, Edrisi) we learn that it was cultivated at this time In Persia at Darband and Ispahān. It is not improbable that the plant was carried from that country to China, as, according to the Chinese, it was introduced by Mahometans. Chinese writers have recorded that under the Yuen dynasty (A.D. 1280-1368) it became the custom to mix Sa-fa-lang (Zāfarān) with food (Bretschneider, Chinese Botanical Works, Foochow, 1870). Saffron appears to have been cultivated in Spain in the 10th century. The Rāja Nirghanta, which was written about 600 years ago by a native of Cashmere, speaks of saffron as coming from Cashmere, and the plant is still cultivated there on the Kareewahs (Alluvial flats from 100 to 200 feet high and 2 to 5 miles long, situated along the borders of the Cashmere Valley; they are separated from each other by deep ravines, and have the appearance of flat-topped hills.) near Pampur; the plants are arranged in parterres, and flower about the end of October; the inhabitants of the disctrict are then summoned to gather the crop; during this time they live in the gardens which are guarded by police to prevent theft (Ince, Handbook of Cashmere).
The earliest medical writers mention saffron, and describe it as cardiacal and aphrodisiacal, improving the complexion, increasing the brilliancy of the eyes, and promoting the delivery of women. They also considered it to be diuretic, astringent, deobstruent, and emmenagogue. Saffron, formerly as highly esteemed in Europe as in the East, is still considered by some European physicians to have emmenagogue properties, but is generally regarded as a colouring and flavouring agent only. Saffron has recently been deleted from the drug list of the Medical Store Dep"ts in Bengal. For much interesting information concerning the early history of saffron in Europe, we would refer our readers to the Pharmacographia of Fl ckiger and Hanbury.


 
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