Neem’s Divine History

Neem’s history is one full of spirituality and divinity. For thousands of years, the neem tree has been used to treat deadly diseases, protect crops against pests and rejuvenate skin and hair.

With beautiful, divine names in many languages, neem has been recorded across history through many civilizations. In Sanskrit, neem is known as Arista, meaning “perfect, complete, and imperishable.” It is known as Vepa in parts of India, or “purifier of air.” In Kiswahili, spoken in Kenya and neighboring countries, neem is known as Mwarunaini, or the reliever of 40 human disorders.

As the neem tree is native to India, much of neem’s rich history originates from Hindu mythology. Typically, the neem tree is portrayed as a symbol of health with a divine origin. For instance, according to Hindu mythology, the neem tree was born through drops of Amrita, otherwise known as the elixir of immortality. These drops were sprinkled onto the Earth by Devas, divine beings, and from those drops, the neem tree blossomed.

Others claim that these drops were sprinkled on the neem trees, which had been carried to the heavens by the Garuda, a part-human, part-bird creature, to make them divine.The amrita drops were also said to have been sprinkled by Indira, a celestial being, on the earth, which gave rise to the divine neem tree and bestowed its miraculous healing properties for human use.

The ancient Hindus believed that the goddess of smallpox, Sithala, lived in the neem tree, as neem was often used as a treatment against this deadly disease. Others believed that the neem trees were key in the passage to heaven.

Neem is also revered as one of the manifestations of the Mother Goddess, known as Kali or Durga, though deified as Neemari Devi. Mariamman is another example. She is a neem goddess that wields a neem leaf as a sword to strikes down disease and illness.