©R. Bourdeix, 2021, section 09-CFL.
For illustrating this section, we can produce on request at least one large size HD poster (up to 180x100 cm in size). These posters should be adapted to each country, on a case-by-case basis, in order to prominently feature locally produced coconut products, and to promote the marketing of these local products. It is also possible to buy or rent items from the personal collection of Dr R. Bourdeix.
A long time ago, in the India area of Punjab, the babies were born neither in the pinks, nor in cabbages, but in the coconut. At this time, it was extremely easy to get a new baby: you just had to find a coconut palm, to harvest a coconut, to open this coconut, and to get a new baby inside.
In fact, it was so easy to have a baby that parents neglected them. As soon as a baby started to cry or fell sick, the parents threw it in a corner, and went to the coconut palm to gather a new baby. God was afflicted by seeing all these miserable and forsaken children who trailed on the ground and ended up dying. Then, it decided: “it is necessary that I find a means so that the mothers take more care of their offspring”. So, since this time, babies do not born anymore from the coconuts, and things are less easy.
Legend from Tonga
Found in the book by Po Fananga: Folk Tales of Tonga by Tupou Posesi Fanua:It is said that there was once a very beautiful maiden called Hina who had a lovely bathing hole or pond where an eel lived. One day Hina’s father caught her making love with a handsome young man, so he grabbed the man. Imagine his surprise when the young man turned into an eel and slipped into the water! An order was immediately sent out that everyone must come and help to empty all the water out of the pond. As soon as this was done and the pond lay dry, the eel was lifted out and killed. But before he was killed, he cried out:
“Tossing aside wood and stones at the bottom of the pond, Search for poor eel. Find me and prepare to cut me up. Cut me up and divide out to your friends and relatives. Only my head bury close to the surface, Cover the head of poor eel with dirt, Leave it for three or four nights, Then a coconut tree will slowly begin to grow. It will bear fruit and a face will appear, A most useful tree it will be in many ways. Scrape the coconut and add flowers (for making coconut oil) Or take the young coconut and Bake it (for drinking) to keep my lover warm. And I’ll return to Pulotu.”
It was done as the eel had asked, and from his head the first coconut grew. If you husk a coconut and scrape it clean, you will see clearly the eyes and mouth of the eel. Thus, it was out of his deep love for Hina that the eel presented himself as a gift that would be useful forever to his lover and to the world.
How the coconut got its face
The people of Kerala, have an interesting folktale that explains how the coconut tree came to be, and how the coconut got its face.
There was once a young fisherman who was unable to catch a single fish. He tried every way he knew, but none of them succeeded. The young man not only became poorer and hungrier, but also became the laughing stock of the village. This filled him with despair, and he decided to learn some magic that would help him to catch fish.
So, he went to a famous magician who taught him how to remove his head from his body. Soon the young man started going to the beach late in the evenings when all the other fishermen had returned to their homes with their daily catch. Then he would hide behind some rocks, take his head off from his body, and dive into the water. The fish, amazed at the sight of a headless man floating in the sea, would swarm around him curiously. Some of them would enter the man’s body through his neck. The man would then swim ashore, take the fish out, and replace his head. Then he would proudly go back to his village and show the villagers all the fish that he had caught.
After a few days, the villagers began to wonder how the young man was able to catch so many fish everyday without using fishing nets or rods.
One day, a curious little boy followed him to the beach and watched as he pulled off his head and dived into the water. The little boy quickly ran forward, picked up the man’s head, and threw it into a bush. When the man came out of the water, he could not find his head.
He searched for it frantically, but could not find it. Then, because his magic was running out, he threw himself back into the sea, and became a fish.
The curious little boy brought all the villagers to the beach show them the man’s amazing head. But when they got to the bush where he had thrown the man’s head, they found that it had already grown into a tall and slender palm with nuts on it.
Each nut had the man’s face on it. And, that is how the coconut tree was created.
There was once a young fisherman who was unable to catch a single fish. He tried every way he knew, but none of them succeeded. The young man not only became poorer and hungrier, but also became the laughing stock of the village. This filled him with despair, and he decided to learn some magic that would help him to catch fish.
So, he went to a famous magician who taught him how to remove his head from his body. Soon the young man started going to the beach late in the evenings when all the other fishermen had returned to their homes with their daily catch. Then he would hide behind some rocks, take his head off from his body, and dive into the water. The fish, amazed at the sight of a headless man floating in the sea, would swarm around him curiously. Some of them would enter the man’s body through his neck. The man would then swim ashore, take the fish out, and replace his head. Then he would proudly go back to his village and show the villagers all the fish that he had caught.
After a few days, the villagers began to wonder how the young man was able to catch so many fish everyday without using fishing nets or rods.
One day, a curious little boy followed him to the beach and watched as he pulled off his head and dived into the water. The little boy quickly ran forward, picked up the man’s head, and threw it into a bush. When the man came out of the water, he could not find his head.
He searched for it frantically, but could not find it. Then, because his magic was running out, he threw himself back into the sea, and became a fish.
The curious little boy brought all the villagers to the beach show them the man’s amazing head. But when they got to the bush where he had thrown the man’s head, they found that it had already grown into a tall and slender palm with nuts on it.
Each nut had the man’s face on it. And, that is how the coconut tree was created.
Coconut in Hindu Mythology.
A Hindu sage named Vishwamitra decided to help his friend, the kind King Trishanku, fulfill his lifelong dreams to ascend up the sky to the heavens, to the realm of the gods. Once Vishwamitra began to send Trishanku up to the heavens through Yajna (a sacrificial Hindu ritual), the king of the gods, Indra, saw Trishanku rising high into the sky. Indra became enraged, and as soon as Trishanku had made it to the gates of heaven, he grabbed Trishanku and threw him down, back to the Earth.
Vishwamitra, seeing that his friend was falling rapidly from the sky, cried out: “Let Trishanku stay where he is now!” So, Trishanku was stuck in the sky, somewhere between the earth and heaven. However, Vishwamitra knew that unless he was physically propped up, he may eventually slip and continue his horrible descent, and so he planted a mighty pole to prop up Trishanku and keep him safe and sound.
This mighty pole became the coconut tree, and Trishanku’s own head became its fruit, with his beard as the coconut’s fiber, and his “eyes” seen if the fiber is removed.
The coconut also holds some other divine aspects. For example, its three “eyes” at the base of the shell are representative of the god Shiva. Another example is its placement with mango leaves atop an earthern pot filled up with water, called a “Purnakumbha”. The pot represents mother earth, the water being the giver of life, the leaves representing life, and the coconut itself symbolizing divine consciousness.