Toddy Palm

Palm tree that is both the source of the
slightly fermented beverage tapped
from its sap known as toddy, and the
long, flat leaves that were traditionally
used for writing down all sorts of texts,
including religious ones. The former use
led this tree to be considered unclean,
since alcoholic beverages are proscribed
in “respectable” Hindu society; the manuscripts written on the leaves, however,
could be the holiest of texts. The poetsaint Ravidas uses this palm to illustrate
how the power of the divine name can
transform something normally believed
to be base and vile. In doing so he is also
referring to himself, who as a tanner and
leather worker was believed to be
defiled because his work involves handling the skins of dead animals.