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Bael, the wood apple: the tree whose leaf is offered to Shiva
बेल (bel)
Bael (Aegle marmelos) is a thorny tree of the Indian subcontinent with leaves in threes and a hard round fruit that the English call wood apple or stone apple. In Hindi it is bel, in Sanskrit bilva, and its three-part leaf is the standard offering to Shiva, which is why the tree stands beside so many Shiva shrines. It is also the state tree of Puducherry.
A thorny tree with leaves in threes and a hard, round, greenish-yellow fruit the size of a cricket ball. The pulp is made into a cooling summer drink; the leaf is the offering Shiva is given.
👀 How to recognise it
Look for leaves in groups of three on a spiny twig, and for the heavy round fruit hanging into the hot months. The wood carries long straight thorns, so the tree is often left as a field boundary.
Where to see it
Mathura
Braj tradition counts twelve forests around Mathura, and one of them, Belvan, is named for this tree. A three-lobed bael leaf is the standard offering at a Shiva shrine, which is why bael stands near the Shiva temples that ring the city.
Raman Reti, Gokul (often) · Kans Qila (Mathura Fort)
Haridwar
Haridwar's Mansa Devi temple, reached by a ropeway that climbs 178 metres, stands on Bilwa Parvat, the hill of the bilva tree, and is counted among the town's five tirthas (pilgrimage sites) as Bilwa Tirth.
Rajaji National Park, Chilla (often)
Rishikesh
The three-part bilva leaf is offered to Shiva and read as his three eyes or the three prongs of the trident; a bael tree is planted beside most Shiva shrines.
Neelkanth Mahadev Temple
Ujjain
Ujjain's Mahakaleshwar is one of the twelve jyotirlinga shrines, and the bael leaf is the standard offering there; the tree is grown in the temple precincts for exactly that reason.
Shri Mahakal Lok · Naulakhi Eco Tourism Park (often)
Varanasi
Varanasi is Shiva's city, and the three-part bael leaf is the offering he is given. Bael sellers sit outside every major Shiva shrine in the old town, and the tree itself grows in most temple courtyards.
Chandraprabha Wildlife Sanctuary
How to recognise a bael tree
Bael is a deciduous shrub or small to medium tree, up to about 13 metres, with slender drooping branches and an open, irregular crown. Three details give it away:
- The leaf. Each leaf is made of three leaflets, the middle one the largest. Young leaves are pale green or pinkish; mature ones are dark green and smooth.
- The thorns. The branches carry long straight spines, 1.2 to 2.5 cm, singly or in pairs. A cut branch oozes a clear, sticky sap.
- The fruit. Round or slightly pear-shaped, 5 to 10 cm across and sometimes as big as a grapefruit, with a shell so hard it has to be cracked with a hammer. Green at first, it turns yellow when ripe. Inside is an aromatic orange pulp with hairy seeds in a sticky mucilage.
The small flowers are pale green or yellowish and sweetly scented, and they usually open with the young leaves. The fruit takes about eleven months to ripen on the tree. Bael is the only species in its genus, Aegle.
Bael in Hindi and other languages
In Hindi the tree is bel (बेल), and around Mathura also shriphal. In Sanskrit and in temple use it is bilva, the name you hear in Varanasi, Ujjain, Haridwar and Rishikesh. In Tamil it is vilvam, in Malayalam koovalam, in Telugu maredu, and in Kannada the leaf is bilva patre. English has several names for it: bael, Bengal quince, golden apple, stone apple and wood apple.
Why the bael leaf is offered to Shiva
Bael is one of the sacred trees of Hinduism. The Sri Sukta, a hymn attached to the Rigveda, reveres the tree as a dwelling of Lakshmi, goddess of prosperity. Its strongest tie, though, is to Shiva, who carries the epithet Bilvadanda, “the one with the bel staff”. The three-part leaf is read as his trident or as his three eyes, and bilva leaves are a main offering in his worship.
The Shiva Purana tells of a hunter who spent a night hiding in a bilva tree and, without knowing it, kept dropping its leaves onto a linga below. The story is told at Maha Shivaratri, when the bilva leaf is the main offering.
Where to see bael in India
Bael grows wild in dry, open forest across much of India, but the easiest place to meet it is next to a Shiva temple. Where the India GO database records it:
- Varanasi. The tree grows in the courtyards of Shiva shrines across the old city, and the leaves are sold for worship in Vishwanath Gali.
- Ujjain. Bael is planted along the Mahakal Lok corridor around the Mahakaleshwar jyotirlinga.
- Haridwar and Rishikesh. The Mansa Devi temple in Haridwar stands on Bilwa Parvat, the hill named after the tree. On the road to Neelkanth Mahadev above Rishikesh, bel leaves are sold at the stalls and the tree grows in the forest alongside.
- Mathura. Braj tradition names one of its twelve forests, Belvan, after bael. Trees are planted around the ashram grounds at Raman Reti in Gokul; see also the Mathura city guide.
- Puducherry. Bael is the territory's official tree, one of its four emblems. The full list of state trees, birds and animals is on the state symbols page.
Is bael endangered?
The IUCN Red List assessed bael in 2020 as Near Threatened: still widespread, but no longer a species to take for granted. It is not one of the specified plants in Schedule III of India's Wild Life (Protection) Act as amended in 2022, so the leaves and fruit are sold freely.
Bel sharbat
In the hot months the pulp is strained, sweetened and served as bel sharbat, also called bela pana, a thick drink similar to lemonade that is drunk as a cooler. The fruit is also dried and made into sweets and powder.
❓ FAQ
Is bael the same as wood apple?
Wood apple is one of several English names for bael (Aegle marmelos), along with stone apple, golden apple and Bengal quince. The same name is also used for a different tree, Limonia acidissima, so check the Latin name.
Is bael the state tree of Puducherry?
Yes. Bael is the official tree of Puducherry, one of the territory's four emblems alongside the Indian palm squirrel, the koel and the cannonball-tree flower.
Why are bael leaves offered to Shiva?
The three-part leaf is read as Shiva's trident or his three eyes, and the Shiva Purana tells of a hunter who, hiding in a bilva tree, dropped its leaves on a linga all night without knowing it. The leaf is the main offering on Maha Shivaratri.