Cultural Significance
The mango is the national fruit of India, Pakistan and the Philippines. It is also the national tree of Bangladesh.
In Hinduism, the perfectly ripe mango is often held by Lord Ganesha as a symbol of attainment, regarding the devotees potential perfection. Mango blossoms are also used in the worship of the goddess Saraswati. No Telugu/Kannada New Year's Day called Ugadi passes without eating ugadi pacchadi made with mango pieces as one of the ingredients. In Tamil Brahmin homes mango is an ingredient in making vadai paruppu on Sri Rama Navami day (Lord Ram's Birth Day) and also in preparation of pachchadi on Tamil New Year's Day.
The Jain goddess Ambika is traditionally represented as sitting under a mango tree.
Mango leaves are used to decorate archways and doors in Indian houses and during weddings and celebrations like Ganesh Chaturthi. Mango motifs and paisleys are widely used in different Indian embroidery styles, and are found in Kashmiri shawls, Kanchipuram silk sarees, etc. Paisleys are also common to Iranian art, because of its pre-Islamic Zoroastrian past.
In Tamil Nadu, the mango is considered, along with banana and jackfruit, as one of the three royal fruits (Mukkani-முக்கனி) occupying first place in terms of sweetness and flavor. Ma-pala-vazhai (மா-பலா-வாழை)
Famous Urdu poet Mirza Asadullah Khan Ghalib was very fond of mangoes. There are many anecdotes concerning his love for mangoes.. Rabindranath Tagore was fond of mangoes and has written poems about its flowers- aamer monjori. Poet Sa'd Bin Ard has written some poems about mangoes.
In the West Indies, the expression "to go mango walk" means to steal another person's mango fruits. This is celebrated in the famous song, The Mango Walk.
In Australia, the first tray of mangoes of the season is traditionally sold at an auction for charity.
The Classical Sanskrit poet Kalidasa sang the praises of mangoes. Historical records mention Mughal emperor Akbar ordering the planting of 100,000 mango trees.
In an episode entitled "The Mango" of the American sitcom Seinfeld, George finds that eating a mango aids him while dating.
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