The Power of the Chinar Tree
Description
When one comes to the village of Shigar, one will [immediately] notice a Chinar [Platanus orientalis L.] tree. Our elders have told us that before the foundation of Bagrot, there was already a small village near the glacier called Hamsad, where a few people lived, and the rest of the area was deserted. During that time, saints came to the northern regions to spread Islam like Hassan Shah, Sultan Wali and others came, where their shrines are lo-cated. One such saint came to the Shigar area and noticed that there was no settlement. The saint had a staff in his hand, which he struck into the ground and said that if this dry staff will turn green, there will be a village here; otherwise, it will remain dry. He did not go further as there were no signs of habitation ahead, and he left. Our elders say that the dry staff grew into a Chinar tree, which still stands there. They also say that the tree was so large that one of its branches reached a village called Hopay, another extended to the far end of the northern settlement, while one went south. This means that it was so enormous that even after all these years, despite breaking down gradually, the tree is still there.
Currently, there is a woman in our area who treats falling hair and baldness. I had dryness in my hair, so I asked her to prepare some medicine for my dry hair. She told me to bring the small, round fruits from the Chinar tree, along with some other ingredients she mentioned. So, I went there to take medicine from that tree where also my aunt lives. I went to her house first and told her about my problem and then I took medicine from that tree. She immediately put her hand at her ear and said: “Beware! Beware! Do not pick up any leaves from here. If anyone picks up anything from here, he will definitely be harmed in some way or the other.” So, even now, the locals never use any branch or anything from the tree for grazing. Only if there is a religious function in the mosque or in imambargah they use it but never at home. It is their belief to not use any leaves or branches from this tree. You can go there and ask the locals for confirmation.
not here
2.5.2.1
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Muhammad Hussain
Andreas Bürkert
Martin Wiehle
Eva Schlecht
Ellen Hoffmann
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Except where otherwised noted, this item's license is described as CC BY-NC-SA