Religious Significance of Sandalwood Tea

Sandalwood is integral to many religions throughout the world and the significance of the sandalwood to many cultures can be traced back to the beginnings of recorded history.

Sandalwood is integral to many religions throughout the world and the significance of the sandalwood to many cultures can be traced back to the beginnings of recorded history.

Buddhism: Sandalwood is mentioned in various suttas. In some Buddhist traditions, sandalwood is considered to be of the padma (lotus) group and attributed to Amitabha Buddha. Sandalwood scent is believed by some to transform one’s desires and maintain a person’s alertness while in meditation. It is also one of the most popular scents used when offering incense to the Buddha and the guru.

Hinduism: Indian sandalwood is very sacred in the Hindu Ayurveda and is known in Sanskrit as Chandana. The wood is used for worshipping the god Shiva, and it is believed that goddess Lakshmi lives in the sandalwood tree. The wood of the tree is ground into a powder and mixed with blessed water to make a paste. This paste is integral to rituals and ceremonies. In some Hindu based cultures, the sandalwood trees hold such significance that the cutting down of a sandalwood tree is a crime punishable by immediate execution.

Jainism: Sandalwood use is integral part of daily practices of Jainism. Sandalwood paste mixed with saffron is used to worship tirthankar Jain deities. Sandalwood garlands are used to dress the body during Jain cremation ceremonies.

Sufism: In sufi tradition, sandalwood paste is applied on the sufi’s grave by the disciples as a mark of devotion. It is practiced particularly among the Indian Subcontinent disciples. In the Tamil culture irrespective of religious identity, sandalwood paste or powder is applied to the graves of sufis as a mark of devotion and respect.

East Asian religions

In East Asia, sandalwood is the most commonly used incense material by the Chinese, Korean and Japanese in worship and various ceremonies. In Korean Shamanism, sandalwood is considered the Tree of Life.

The story of Sandalwood tea

According to ‘nature’s guide to health’ a popular scientific information website in the UK, sandalwood tea can boost brain power, treat insomnia, reduce stress and boost the body’s immune system.

History and cultural and religious significance: In rural areas of Australia, traditional indigenous people boil sandalwood leaves with water, making it a strong, dark, almost syrup like mixture. It can then be consumed or used as a lotion for skin irritations. This powerful mixture is still used by many of the native indigenous people of Australia to treat various diseases.

According to ‘nature’s guide to health’ a popular scientific information website in the UK, sandalwood tea can boost brain power, treat insomnia, reduce stress and boost the body’s immune system.

According to ‘healthline’, a health information website, sandalwood tea has prominent health benefits. It increases alertness, relieves anxiety, helps wounds healing, prevents skin cancer and fights bacteria, etc.

Origins: Australia is rich in natural resources, abundant sunlight, clean environment with huge differences in a daily climate temperature, suitable for the growth of many forms of flora. Australia also has many major wine regions. Sandalwood is a small evergreen tree, growing naturally in Western Australia and north Queensland. Sandalwood is a woody flowering tree that once matured produces a highly aromatic wood. Oil can also be extracted from the tree and the roots and is used for scents and perfumes and for both western medicines and traditional Asian herbal medicines. The timber and the oil also hold significant value in religious rites by Buddhists, Hindus, Parsis and Muslims throughout Asia.

There are 15 known variants of Sandalwood that grow naturally across the Indomalaya, Australasia, and Oceania ecozones, stretching from India through Malaysia to the Pacific Islands and continue to Hawaii and some islands off the western coast of South America.

In recent times, Sandalwood plantations have been planted in Western Australia utilising the two most commercially viable variants of the Sandalwood tree being the Australian Sandalwood tree, Santalum Spicatum and the Indian

Six species of Sandalwood are native to Australia.

  • Indian (or Traditional) Sandalwood – Santalum Album
  • Australian (or Western) Sandalwood – Santalum Spicatum
  • Northern (or Queensland) Sandalwood – Santalum Lanceolatum
  • Sweet Quandong – Santalum Acuminatum
  • Bitter Quandong – Santalum Murrayanum

Australia has the world’s largest population of sandalwood.

Scientific Data of Sandalwood Tea

Analysis of sandalwood tea by the Griffith Institute for Drug Discovery at the Griffith University in Brisbane Australia, shows it contains many different amino acids, glycerines and glucitols. It can promote circulatory metabolism, enhance immunity, promote tissue healing and restore physiological functions.

Scientific Analysis:

Analysis of sandalwood tea by the Griffith Institute for Drug Discovery at the Griffith University in Brisbane Australia, shows it contains many different amino acids, glycerines and glucitols. It can promote circulatory metabolism, enhance immunity, promote tissue healing and restore physiological functions.

Chinese traditional medicines reportedly have health benefits for the compounds contained in our Australian sandalwood tea.

Hexahydro-1H-pyrrolizine-1-carboxylic acid.  

  • non-central analgesic
  • antipyretic
  • antiinflammatory non steroidal
  • antirheumatic
  • metabolism stabilising

Glycerine 

  • act as a moisturiser
  • reduce skin irritation
  • protect against infection
  • boost wound healing
  • relieve constipation
  • promote hydration
  • improves physical performance

Quinic Acid

  • a building block in the preparation of the treatment of influenza
  • an astringent

  Dimethylglycine 

  •  reduce stress
  • reduces the effects of ageing
  • boost the immune system’s defences against infection. 
  • lower blood cholesterol and triglycerides
  • stabilises blood pressure
  • stabilises blood sugar

Glucitol and Mannitol

  • natural sugar substitute
  • helps protect against tooth decay
  • reduced calorie value
  • is beneficial for diabetics