Krishi (Farming) Pooja
This an initiative started by Jagathguru Swami Sathyananda Saraswathi Thiruvadikal along with Satha Koti Lalitha Sahasranama archana at Chenkottukonam Ashram. Concept is to encourage every family to cultivate food corps with prayers as a Pooja. Once every step of that farming activity – right from selecting the seed, planting, watering, nurturing and harvesting is done by a devotional feel, chanting mantra’s it is not only the fruit but also the environment as well as the doer becomes pure and devotional. Following the gurutva sankalpa, first harvest is usually offered to a temple or Ashram itself.
Banana Plantation
First initiative is to plant 11 Banana saplings since these plants are very dear to Hanumanji. First batch will be initiated in Nov, anticipating the paduka prathishta in March 2026. Here are more details of relevance of Banana plant w.r.t Hanuman Ji. Please review sign in link and other details at the bottom of this page.
Kadali Vana in Sanskrit – has been very dear to Hanumanji. Ramayana narrates in fifth chapter – Sunderkand, that once Hanumanji returned from Lanka after completing the mission of locating Sitadevi, entire monkey army went to the rich and abundant plantain grove which was very dear to Sugriva and started having a feast. Even though every one was very afraid of the strict disciplinarian king Sugriva, at that moment of excitement, nothing mattered to them, similar to human mind in a state of ecstasy. There is no concept of right or wrong. Once immersed in divinity, everything will only be right. This is the first and obvious reference of how much Hanumanji loved banana plantations.
Similarly, folklore calls out that Hanumanji loves to meditate in Banana groves. The medicinal qualities of Banana plant as such as well as the environment it provides is very conducive for deep meditation.
One famous story explains how banana leaves got the partition line in the middle: After the war with Ravana, Lord Rama and Hanuman Ji stopped at Sage Bharadwaja’s ashram for a meal. Rama wanted to eat from the same banana leaf as Hanuman Ji, showing their unity and devotion. As the banana leaves earlier did not have a midrib dividing them, Rama used his right hand’s middle finger to draw a line, splitting one banana leaf into two halves, one for himself and another for Hanuman Ji. This act symbolized the inseparable bond between the divine and the devotee, raising Hanuman’s status through devotion. This event is said to have started the tradition of serving food on banana leaves with a central partition.
Another notable story relates to the Ramayana being inscribed on banana leaves. HanumanJi is said to have composed a version of the Ramayana that was inscribed on seven broad banana leaves in Kadali-vana. When the sage Valmiki found this, he was moved by its poetic excellence and started crying. Seeing this plight of sage Valmiki, even with out a bit of hesitation, HanumanJi tore up these banana leaves to prevent his version from competing with Valmiki’s Ramayana stating that Valmiki’s version of Ramayana is required for the sage to keep his name and fame until the world exists. This story underscores a mythological link between Hanuman Ji and banana plants as symbolic media for scriptures.
Given our absolute belief that HanumanJi is always present at Ashram it made logical sense to start our humble attempt of supporting Krishi Pooja initiative with an attempt to plant a 11 Banana trees to start with. First batch will be done along with November 2025 regular Homam of 9th. Initially We will have one family own one tree and be responsible for the up keeping of the same tree. Those who want to be a part of this initiative may please register using this link. https://forms.gle/zMYFQ598rUujLEuw6 .
There is obviously a cost involved in procuring the saplings, transporting them, preparing the ground and planting / maintaining them. Hence we encourage contributions to support. Request to consider a minimum of $101 per tree. If sending checks, it should be in favor of Swami Sathyananda Saraswathy Foundation. Contributions can also be made through Zelle using this bar code below or by email at Paduka@srdmh.org
