What is Red Sandalwood Which Alu Arjun Smuggled in Pushpa?
Red, sandalwood, smuggle, Pushpa, Allu, arjun, meaning, importance
Pushpa: The Rise starring Allu Arjun and Rashmika Mandanna in the lead roles and Fahad Faasil as the antagonist gigantic success after its release. The story of the film revolves around Allu Arjun who is a smuggler of red sandalwood or Rakta Chandan and becomes a rich man. You may wonder how someone can sell wood and earn so much money! Well, it is true! Here's some interesting information about Red Sandalwood and why it is in demand: Firstly you need to understand that Red Sandalwood is very different from normal Sandalwood. Sandalwood which we use in our homes has a lovely smell but Red Sandalwood has no smell yet it is very very expensive. Red Sandalwood is used to make furniture, musical instruments, cosmetics, etc. It has a lot of medicinal properties like treating digestive tract problems such as diarrhoea and lose motions, fluid retention, and breaking up mucus to make it easier to cough up. It is also known for its blood purification properties. Apart from these, wood is also used as a flavouring agent in alcohol, especially wine.
There is a very high demand for this wood in India and in the international market. However, these trees don’t grow everywhere. They are very very rare. These trees grow only in the Seshachalam hills spread over four districts of Andhra Pradesh- Nellore, Kurnool, Chittoor, Kadapa (Cuddapah) bordering Tamil Nadu. They are grown in these areas because only these places have the right soil, water & climate to help the trees grow.
This is why they are so expensive. The cost of 1 kg is said to be in a range from Rs 90 thousand to Rs 1.5 lakh rupees. Since it is so expensive, naturally, it will be smuggling. People have been cutting many red sandalwood trees because of which their numbers have reduced a lot. The smuggling of the wood that you see in the movie is true. Huge quantities of the wood are smuggled out of India to China, Japan, Singapore, UAE, and Australia. It is mostly smuggled to China because China has a high demand for it.
The trees grow very slowly. Smugglers are chopping down trees in large numbers to make a profit. This is why India has implemented strict laws on the growth and sale of Red Sandalwood to stop its smuggling and ensure the trees don’t go extinct. There is even a special group of police officers like you saw in the movie to stop the smuggling and protect the trees. Yet corruption within the police force and smugglers unique ideas to smuggle the wood has endangered the trees.
