The Devil’s Tree by a River in a Forest

The name of the tree caught my attention quickly. ‘Devil Tree’ was printed on the name card with the Malayalam name in bigger letters. Maggie and I were sauntering along the footpath by the river in Thommankuthu, a place in central Kerala. The river has elegant cascades in monsoon though it was a much feebler version now in summer.

Maggie’s attention was drawn to the tree when I captured a pic of it with the intention of bringing it over here on my blog. Maggie knew that the tree was believed to be home to yakshis, female bloodsucking ghosts, in Kerala’s numerous legends and folklores. Her instinctive response was a recoil from the tree.

Not all yakshis are evil, I recollected. Kerala’s most reverberant poet, Kadammanitta Ramakrishnan, describes yakshis as the vital energy of nature in one of his poems.

On the perfumed path of Pala (Devil’s Tree) flowers,
cool dewdrops lie scattered;
In the rainbow's teardrops,
her ghostly choir sings.

 

In the Malayalam original:

പാലപ്പൂവിൻ മണപ്പാതയിൽ,
ചിതറി വീണ കുളിർ കണികൾ;
മേഘവില്ലിന്റെ കണ്ണീരിൽ,
പാടും അവളുടെ അകമ്പടി

While many yakshis in Kerala’s literature are vindictive spirits because they were originally women who were used by men to sate their lust before being dumped, some are even demigoddesses. In the poem cited above, the yakshis sway passionately under the trees celebrating the rain. Dancing along with them are serpents in their hidden groves. The mountains are humming their ancient tunes. The entire earth is vibrant with nature’s music.

Yakshis emerged out of the seductive charms and mysteries of nature in the olden days when science hadn’t given humans answers to the dark music of the nights. Strange sounds echoed through fields and rivers. People thought there were spirits all around them, spirits that came alive in the dead of the dark nights. Yakshis were of particular interest because they were both beautiful and deadly.

Yakshis represented the feminine energy in nature: creation, beauty, and sensuality. A Yakshi represented both desire and danger. The world has a lot to offer, but it is man’s duty to control his desires. Yakshis were a way to respect, fear, and understand the deep forces of life, nature, death, beauty, and mystery.  

Thommankuthu, with its forests and river and massive boulders, has much to offer: seductive beauty to murderous pitfalls. Tread carefully.

This is one of the many gigantic baheda trees in the forest of Thommankuthu. This tree is generally avoided by Hindus in North India as it is believed by them to be inhabited by demons. We visited this place first in 2009 and the picture below is from that visit. 

The trail in the forest is quite welltrodden especially in the beginning. Gradually, it becomes less trodden and more charming and mysteriously beckoning. 

Life thrives here everywhere, with bright shoots rising from even gnarled roots.

PS. Today being Sunday, I’m taking a break from the A2Z series. You can get back to A2Z here.