Red Sandalwood-Raktha Chandanam

This blog is in continuation of my earlier blog on "Sandalwood-A blessing for Life" dt24th May 2015 In the earlier blog I had mentioned about common Sandalwood.this one is a special variety found in Western Ghats. If one likes it can be called the Medicinal Queen of Western Ghats.so far,this variety has not been named this way. Let us look into Raktha Chandanam in more details: There are two types of sandalwood.1)common white sandalwood which has Fragrance(the earlier Blog refers) and 2)Red Sandal wood.The main difference is that the former has pleasant Fragrance whereas the later has mild Fragrance and also being used for the same purposes as of White but not in large scales. The Red Sandalwood( Raktha Chandanam) is the variety which is more useful as a medicine than for the use in Temples And in the manufacture of Sandalwood Oil,perfumes and Soaps& Cosmetics. In Ayurveda,after many tests in the ancient period. It has been classified As a medicine the heartwood of which Is very useful for diverse clinical conditions. This is found more in Andhra Pradesh. The properties of the red variety are mainly bitter and sweety in Taste.very useful for the coolness of the eyes The heartwood and the seeds are very helpful to prevent cough,Vomiting,Fever,and illness relating to blood and eyes. The heartwood and fruits are very useful for stopping bleeding& for healing of Wounds.They are used as ingredients to prepare medicines for internal bleeding also. Both White Sandalwood & Red sandalwood arevsuch trees as coconut tree in the use of their parts.every part of the trees are useful in one way or other. The commercial importance of Sandalwood is of pamount importance.since a long time,every year the market value Of sandal wood is on the increasing trend. The price of Red sandalwood is always more than the white though the fragrance is less. This is because of it's medicinal value and te strength of the trunk. The trunk of Red sandal wood is obviously red. The red Sandalwood is found more in the region of Rayalseema& Thirupathi but a ban is on in dealing with the Red sandal wood since a long time. Recently in 2014 the ban was lifted to conduct the e- Auction of 10,000 tones of Red sandalwood recovered from poachers. As I had mentioned above the maximum cultivation of red sandalwoodbiisvin Andhrapradesh.But at the same time the menace of smugglers& poachers are also at the maximum in Andhrapradesh. The authorities are append ding the poachers sometimes Nd recover the loot from them .such looted & recovered Sandalwood is in godowns awaiting orders from Government for their auction. The 10,000 tones accumulated in the Godowns were e-Auctioned in December 2014 which fetched Rs 991 crores. The sandalnwood is just a small commodity.there are many more items dealt with farmers Are not looked after by the Government in the right perceptive affording more importance to Agriculture India is a nation which is depending more on Agriculture to improve the economy of the country further and further. Similarly the nation is surrounded by other nations also from whom India constantly face Threat in one way or other.Even SSrilanka is givingnIndia perpetual headache by detaining INDIA's fishing boats& frisbee en. This being so,India need a good Defence system on the borders by employing maximum H service personnel. However,it is very sad affair to note that the present changed Governmentbat the Centre is ignoring the legitimate requirement ofbthe Nation in regard to Agriculture and Defence. Instead there are reports overflowing in the Media that the mostnimportant sector of Defence is subjected to reduction instead of increase. Similarly ,the department of Agriculture which is the Oxygen( Pranavayu) Of the Nation is also being totally ignored without affording prime importance. The days of our Nation and the people attaining self sufficiency looks like a mirage . SreedharanMundanat 25th may 2015 .