NATURAL TRANSFORMATION OF OLIVE TREES INTO ‘’KAO’’ TREES - A Thought Provoking Critique.. The Punjab Small Industries Corporation (PSIC) has been playing an instrumental role in the development and promotion of crafts clusters in the Punjab. Though, the priority of PSIC is creative and cultural industries, however, while working at these crafts clusters one find some amazing information about the land, people, flora and fauna of the regions where these clusters are located. PSIC intervention in the cluster of artisans at Taxila is one such chronicle where the PSIC staff explored treasures of information while working on the legendary arts and crafts of Taxila that are associated to the Gandhara civilization. The walking sticks of Murree hills are very famous for their elegance, durability and style. The most expensive of the Muree walking sticks are made of “Kao” trees that are very flexible and strong too. So people have heard about ‘’Kao’’ trees for making walking sticks at Murree. Similarly, at Taxila the Kao trees are found in abundance. It was surprising to know that the “Kao’’ tree is the fouled version of olive trees. While tracing the history of Taxila and the Gandhara period it was revealed that Fossil (Olea) pollen has been found in Macedonia( Greece) and other places around the Mediterranean, indicating that this species is an original element of the Mediterranean flora. Fossilized leaves of “Olea” were found in the palaeosols of the volcanic Greek island of Santorini (Thera) and were dated about 37,000 BP. Imprints of larvae of olive whitefly Aleurolobus (Aleurodes) olivinus were found on the leaves. The same insect is commonly found today on olive leaves, showing that the plant-animal co-evolutionary relations have not changed since that time. The Greek presence at Taxila consequent to the invasion of Alexander the ruler of Macedonia in 326 BC left lasting influence on the area that is reflected in the cultural heritage of this region. The Greek has a passion for Olives and it has long been considered sacred. The olive branch was often a symbol of abundance, glory and peace. The leafy branches of the olive tree were ritually offered to deities and powerful figures as emblems of benediction and purification, and they were used to crown the victors of friendly games and bloody wars. Today, olive oil is still used in many religious ceremonies. Over the years, the olive has been the symbol of peace, wisdom, glory, fertility, power and purity. The massive plantation of Olive trees at this region by the Greeks made this area known to the world as the largest producer of olive oil or the black gold. But after the lapse of centuries this treasure was ignored and resultantly transformed into “Kao” trees that are found in abundance here. Now some intelligent & knowledgeable farmers are grafting the “Kao” trees with the Olives and had borne fruitful results. There is a need to explore possibility to extend this programme on commercial level to earn trade benefits out of it. The Olive wood is very hard and is prized for its durability, colour, high combustion temperature and interesting grain patterns. Because of the commercial importance of the fruit, and the relatively small size of the tree, olive wood and its products are relatively expensive. Common uses of the wood include: kitchen utensils, carved wooden bowls, cutting boards, fine furniture, and decorative items. (This article has been authored by Ahmad Farooq, Director, Creative & Cultural Industries, PSIC & Project Director , Stone Crafts Taxila, PSIC- December, 2014)
Posted on: Sat, 13 Dec 2014 05:17:22 +0000
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