More about trees in and around houses - papaya and lime trees

It is harmful to let the papaya tree grow talller than the roof of the building.  The concept held good when there were thatched houses all over.

In rural India fruit trees of all types were widely cultivated.  Consumption of fruits rich in vitamins accounted for the health of the old generation.  Papaya is of high medicinal value.  The latex of the raw papaya smeared on papads and fried, kills the germs in the stomach of children, according to an ayurvedic prescription.  It is widely prescribed for digestion and general health.

Inspite of all this, if the tree grows taller than the house, it is cut down without even the least hesitation. Papaya tree is one of the weakest of trees.  If you climb it to pluck the fruit, there is every possibility for the stem to break and you to fall.  During a storm or rain, it may fall over the thatched roof and cause damage to the house and injury to the dwellers.  This is why the papaya tree is not allowed to grow above the roof.

It was believed that one who plants a lime tree would die a premature death or flee from his native place.  But trees and plants have been part of the nature and man, its beenfactor ever since he was born in this planet.

Trees can do him no harm in any way.  Then how did this taboo come in to being?  The use and medicinal value of lime is beyond doubt.  But once it is planted, it takes time to grow and bear the fruit.  This delay in time to harvest the fruits of his effort was intolerable for the farmer perhaps.  So he discouraged others too to plant it and wait for reaping the fruit which was beyond the patience of an average farmer.

Indirectly the belief mean that the person who plants the lime tree will have died or left the place for better prospects by the time the tree bears its first fruit.