page_title: Mango
section_title: Cultural significance
hierarchical_section_title: Mango / Cultural significance
caption_attribution_description: Ellora caves. Cave 34?. "On another cave, an imposing yakshi is seated on her lion under a mango tree, laden with fruits." from en:Ellora
context_page_description: A mango is a stone fruit produced from numerous species of tropical trees belonging to the flowering plant genus Mangifera, cultivated mostly for their edible fruit. Most of these species are found in nature as wild mangoes. The genus belongs to the cashew family Anacardiaceae. Mangoes are native to South Asia, from where the "common mango" or "Indian mango", Mangifera indica, has been distributed worldwide to become one of the most widely cultivated fruits in the tropics. Other Mangifera species are grown on a more localized basis.
  Worldwide, there are several hundred cultivars of mango. Depending on the cultivar, mango fruit varies in size, shape, sweetness, skin color, and flesh color which may be pale yellow, gold, or orange. Mango is the national fruit of India, Haiti, and the Philippines, and the national tree of Bangladesh. It is the summer national fruit of Pakistan.
context_section_description: The mango is the national fruit of India, Pakistan, and the Philippines. It is also the national tree of Bangladesh. In India, harvest and sale of mangoes is during March–May and this is annually covered by news agencies.
  The mango has a traditional context in the culture of South Asia. In his edicts, the Mauryan emperor Ashoka references the planting of fruit- and shade-bearing trees along imperial roads:
  "On the roads banyan-trees were caused to be planted by me, (in order that) they might afford shade to cattle and men, (and) mango-groves were caused to be planted."
  In medieval India, the Indo-Persian poet Amir Khusrow termed the mango "Naghza Tarin Mewa Hindustan" – "the fairest fruit of Hindustan". Mangoes were enjoyed at the court of the Delhi Sultan Alauddin Khijli, and the Mughal Empire was especially fond of the fruits: Babur praises the mango in his Babarnameh, while Sher Shah Suri inaugurated the creation of the Chaunsa variety after his victory over the Mughal emperor Humayun. Mughal patronage to horticulture led to the grafting of thousands of mangoes varieties, including the famous Totapuri, which was the first variety to be exported to Iran and Central Asia. Akbar (1556–1605) is said to have planted a mango orchard of 100,000 trees at Lakhi Bagh in Darbhanga, Bihar, while Jahangir and Shah Jahan ordered the planting of mango-orchards in Lahore and Delhi and the creation of mango-based desserts.
  The Jain goddess Ambika is traditionally represented as sitting under a mango tree. Mango blossoms are also used in the worship of the goddess Saraswati. Mango leaves are used to decorate archways and doors in Indian houses and during weddings and celebrations such as Ganesh Chaturthi. Mango motifs and paisleys are widely used in different Indian embroidery styles, and are found in Kashmiri shawls, Kanchipuram and silk sarees. In Tamil Nadu, the mango is referred to as one of the three royal fruits, along with banana and jackfruit, for their sweetness and flavor. This triad of fruits is referred to as ma-pala-vazhai. The classical Sanskrit poet Kālidāsa sang the praises of mangoes.
  Mangoes were popularized in China during the Cultural Revolution as symbols of Chairman Mao Zedong's love for the people.
caption: An image of Ambika under a mango tree in Cave 34 of the Ellora Caves
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