Sandal wood

Santalum album. commonly known asIndian sandalwood or chandan belongs to the family Santalaceae.
It is highly valuable and becoming endangered species. It is distributed all over the country and more than
90% lies in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu covering 8300 sq kms. Sandalwood plays an important role in the
religious life of Indians. The essential oil obtained from this wood has occupied significant place in
perfumery industries/market.

About the tree

 occurs from coastal dry forests up to 700 m elevation.

 normally grows in sandy or stony red soils,
 This habitat has a temperature range from 0° C to 38° C and annual rainfall between 500 and
3000 mm
 It is an evergreen tree.
 It can grow to a height of 20 m and attain a girth of over 1.5 m.
 It flowers and fruits twice a year during March-April and September-October. Trees start flowering
from 3 years of age.
 They may live to one hundred years of age
 The central part of the tree, the heartwood, is the only part of the tree that is used for its
fragrance..
 It is yellow-brown in color,
 The trunk of the tree starts to develop its fragrance after about 10 years of growth.
 The value of heartwood is due to its oil content, and the superiority of the oil is due to the
percentage of santalol.
 hard with an oily texture and due to its durability, is the perfect material for carving.

Religious significance

A special paste called “chandanam” created from sandalwood is often used on the body, applied to the
head, chest or neck either cosmetically or as part of a religious ceremony. The fragrant and sweet-
smelling pastes of sandalwood are also very often used to worship the gods and goddesses..
Sandalwood is also prized by Buddhists who use the scent in their own ceremonies and meditations. It is
very often us ed to purify temples and holy places in both the Hindi and Buddhist faith.