Beyond savouring the mango's delightful taste or indulging in its delicately flavoured desserts during the summer, the fruit's rich history and significance are deeply embedded in historical art and literature. This Mango Day, we invite you to delve into some of the most prominent pieces of mango-related art and literature as well as the intended symbolism that accompanies it. In South Asian literature "He visits my town once a year.
He fills my mouth with kisses and nectar. I spend all my money on him. Who, girl, your man? No, a mango.
" Amir Khusrow was a Sufi singer, poet, and scholar under the Delhi Sultanate. The Riddles of Amir Khusrow was developed by Khusrow in the 14th century and riddles like these showcased the narrative pictography of the Indian culture, not one lived by the royals who had primary access to the written word, but that of the common people. After all, is there anything more Indian than the inimitable yearning for a fresh, juicy mango? This sentiment is showcased throughout time, with mangos emerging as a literary device encompassing myriad metaphorical meanings: luxury, yearning/seduction, the turn of age, time, youth and beauty.
Kalidasa’s Sakuntala and the Ring of Recollection as translated by Barbara Stoler Miller has these lines, "Mango-blossom bud, I offer you to Love As he lifts his bow of passion. Be the first of his flower arrows aimed at lonely girls with lovers far away!" In Jhumpa Lahiri's 1999 short story, When Mr. Pirzada Came to Dine,.