Hello, I am Mango Tree

Do I really need an introduction? Life in India can often be described in two parts: Waiting for the mango season and enjoying the mango season! It’s no surprise that I am the national fruit of India. What’s surprising is that I’m not yet the national sport, because over centuries mango-eating has been refined to a nationally obsessive activity.

How do you even begin to introduce someone as famous as me?

Where did my name originate from? So many stories to tell, so little time.

Okay, let’s start with an ‘origins’ story.

The word ‘mango’ originates from the Tamil word "maankaay" (மாங்காய்) and the Malyalam word "maanga" (മാങ്ങ). These words are derived from the root words - "maan" referring to the mango tree and "kaay" meaning unripe fruit. The Portugese traders, upon encountering the fruit in Southern India, adopted the name ‘mangay’, from these languages, to describe the fruit. This eventually became the English word ‘mango’.

My botanical name is Mangifera indica. I’m native to the Indian subcontinent and South Eastern Asia.

My Story

Yellow-white fragrant flowers start appearing on me at the end of winters and start of spring. I bear both male and female flowers on the same tree. After pollination, in a few months, usually towards April or May, these eventually mature into the mango fruit. I am an evergreen tree and can grow up to 50 to 100 feet tall. As per the NHB (National Horticulture Board of India), over 1,500 varieties of mango grow in India, of these ~1,000 are for commercial purposes. Each of these has their own unique rich flavour, texture and legends.

Chapters can be written about the plethora of my varieties, here’s a quick peek into some of them:

Hapus (aka Alphonso) is a much sought after mango variety, it has a reddish-orange glow, sweet pleasant smell, and saffron coloured fleshy non-fibrous fruit pulp – originally from the Maharashtra-Goa belt. Ratnagiri is used as a variety name sometimes synonymously with Alphonso, and is again originally from the same cultivation belt, named after the Ratnagiri district in Maharashtra.

Almost as sought after as Hapus in the coastal belt is the Mankurad variety - the flagship mango of Goa. Interestingly, this sometimes gets confused with another variety called Malcurado. The second variety has an interesting story: the Portugese called this variety ‘Mal-curado’ meaning ‘of poor colour’, the name stuck and continues as its present day name. Having said this, it is also loved by connoisseurs, as despite its patchy look, it is loved for its sweet and aromatic flavour.

Sindhura has a reddish tinge on top of its head (much like the red sindhur mark worn by married Indian women on top of their head) and the fruit pulp is a deeper yellow colour and tastes sweet & tangy.

Another legendary variety is the Raspuri, also called Pairi, originally cultivated in Karnataka. If Hapus is considered as the King of Mangoes, then Pairi often gets the sobriquet of the Queen of Mangoes. It is extremely sweet in taste and is often the preferred mango for making aam-ras i.e. mango pulp.

The Totapuri variety stands out for its shape having distinct pointy-ends, shaped like a parrot (tota) beak. Interestingly, the totapuri fruit skin doesn’t carry much of a bitter after-flavour, and was traditionally consumed along with the fruit pulp. Totapuri was imported to Florida in 1901 as Sandersha and in the 1960s as Totapuri. It is the parent of at least two Florida mango cultivars: Anderson and Brooks.

Banginapalli, named after the town in Andhra Pradesh where farmers first cultivated this variety has a lighter yellow, mellower taste and is oval in shape, it is also referred to as ‘Safeda’ in the northern parts of India.

Mango cultivars from the North of India include: Langra, Dasheri and Chausa. Legend has it that the ‘langra’ mango was named after its original handicapped cultivator in Varanasi. Its association with Varanasi is so strong that it is often referred to as ‘Banarsi langra’. ‘Malda langra’ is another adaptation of the same variety from West Bengal, named after the town of Malda. Langra mangoes tend to remain green even after ripening.

The Dasheri variety has its own unique history. The parent plant, from which the original Dasheri variety was developed, still exists in Dasheri village near Kakori, Lucknow, it is believed to be over 300 years old. The first orchard of Dasheri mangoes was established in Allupur, Malihabad. The name of Malihabad is taken with considerable reverence amongst mango aficionados – it is a mango producing powerhouse in the State of Uttar Pradesh.

Chausa or Chaunsa is said to derive its name from a historic battle fought in Chausa in June 1539, Bihar between Sher Shah Suri and Humayun. It’s said that the mango was thus named by Sher Shah Suri to commemorate the battle victory.

The love for my fruit cuts across classes, countries and is universal over the folds of time.

Bengali polymath Rabindranath Tagore’s passion for me, my flowers and fruits is legendary. Not only is the poem ‘Aamero monjori‘ (meaning ‘mango blossoms’) a dedication to this love affair, you will find constant references to me in his stories and poems ranging from ‘Dui Bhiga Jami’ (2 bits of land) to ‘Abichal’ (Unyielding) . As a tribute to Tagore I will share with you a recipe for one of his favourite mango desserts at the end of this story.

There is something about me and poets. Or maybe I just bring out the poet in everyone!

Legendary Indian poet Mirza Ghalib was obsessed with me and would never be shy of writing letters imploring friends to ‘remember’ him during the mango season. He composed a masnavi (a poem in rhyming couplets) titled ‘Dar Sifat-e-Ambaah’ which translates to ‘On the qualities of mango’. A famous anecdote talks of an instance where Ghalib is enjoying mangoes in the company of his doctor friend Hakeem Raziuddin Khan (who, by the way, is not too pleased with Ghalib’s over indulgence in mangoes especially with passing age), when a passing donkey sniffs at mango discards and moves on without eating any. Hakeem Raziuddin Khan disdainfully remarks, “Look Mirza, even a donkey doesn’t like mangoes”, to which Ghalib promptly retorts, “True, only a donkey would not like mangoes”.

Presenting to you Ghalib’s ‘Dar Sifat-e-Ambaah’ and its translation:

Mujhse poochho, tumhen khabar kya hai

Aam ke agey neyshakar kya hai

Ya ye hoga ke fart-e rafa’at se

Baagh baanon ne baagh e Jannat se

Angabeen ke, ba hukm-e rabb-in-naas

Bhar ke bheje hain sar ba mohar gilaas

Ask me! For what do you know?
A mango is far sweeter than sugarcane
Perhaps from the great heights above
The gardeners of heaven’s orchards
Have sent, by the order of God
Wine filled in sealed glasses

Can you imagine a bucket full of mangoes in chilled water and Tagore and Ghalib on either side of it?

Other famous poetic conversations include the one between the poet Akbar Allahabadi in Allahabad and his friend Allama Iqbal in Lahore. A grateful Iqbal on receiving a gift of the choicest ‘langra’ mango variety from Allahabadi wrote back:

Asar hai teri aijaz-e-masihee ka ae Akbar,

Allahabad se Langra chala Lahore tak pahuncha.

It is the effect of your messiah like miracles, O’ Akbar,

That a lame (langra mango) walked from Allahabad and reached Lahore.

So much gets talked about my fruit that most people forget that my tree has other parts too!

I have elliptical, leathery, pointy and slightly wavy leaves. They are known for their various medicinal and culinary uses. They are rich in antioxidants and have been traditionally used to help regulate blood sugar, lower blood pressure, and improve respiratory and digestive health. They also contain compounds beneficial for skin and hair health. Young mango leaves are used in cuisines, particularly in India, for making chutneys and soups. They can also be used to make tea, either fresh or dried. Mango leaves and bark can be used to create natural yellow dye.

In Indian cultural traditions, mango leaves are considered auspicious and are used in various rituals and ceremonies to symbolize prosperity, fertility, and good luck. They are believed to invite positive energy, purify the environment, cleanse energies and ward off negative influences. This is why are often used to decorate doorways, mandaps (wedding altars), prayer spaces, and are placed with their tips inside in a kalash (water pot) during ceremonies. Mango leaves are used as decorative torans on doorways as they purify the environment and cleanse energies as people pass through doorways adorned with them.

My names in other languages include:

Hindi: Aam (आम)

Tamil: Manka (மாங்காய்)

Malayalam: Mampazham (മാമ്പഴം)

Telugu: Mamidi Pandu (మామిడి పండు)

Kannada: Mavina Hannu / Mavinkayi (ಮಾವಿನ ಹಣ್ಣು/ಮಾವಿನಕಾಯಿ)

Bengali: Aam (আম)

Gujarati: Keri (કેરી)

Konkani: Ambo (आंबो)

Marathi: Amba (आंबा)

Oriya: Amba (ଆମ୍ବ)

Punjabi: Amb / Aam (ਅੰਬ / ਆਮ)