Paneer roja- An attempt to find its origin

Saru Latha

PANEER ROSES / PANNEER ROJA AND AN ATTEMPT TO DISCUSS THEIR ORIGIN!

Paneer in Tamil means ” A sweet fragrance”. “Even now, people in Tamil call rose water made using steam distillation ‘Paneer.'” Yes 😊, Paneer roja is a Tamil word. There is still a talk in Tamilnadu that whenever you go and give a paneer rose variant to people, Immediately, few people will tell this statement that “Yes, This is the original Paneer roja and vice versa”😋

People in Tamil Nadu have cultivated Paneer Roja since the time of Raja Raja Cholan, the great Tamil king who built the Thanjavur Big Temple. Farmers have grown it in hectares across the Cauvery delta region. From there, its cultivation expanded up to the Palani Hills of Tamil Nadu.”

Some school of thought tells that the other name for Paneer roses is Edward rose/Edouard rose. This is because a French botanist, Monsieur Edouard Périchon, initially discovered these roses in 1820. People later renamed them ‘Rose de le Bourbon,’ commonly known as Bourbon roses. These roses are a hybrid between Rosa chinensis (Chinese roses) and Rosa damascene (Persian roses).

origin of paneer rose

Early Sanskrit manuscripts also explains the extraction of Rose water using Paneer roses. A Buddhist monk Nagarjuna also explains the process of the same in his book(8 th century). Manufacturers have used Paneer roses to make numerous medicines, such as Gulkhand (a natural coolant) and Gul Rogan (a sesame-based oil).

The origin of Paneer roses is still in debate, however, one thing is much clearer that we are slowly losing the rare paneer rose variety due to commercialization. Yes, During my childhood, the paneer roses were so delicate and has a very light pink color, will have a subtle(not strong) rose fragrance. The moment you put a paneer rose in hot water, it will turn white(and not pink).. Even, i used to eat the fresh flowers.

People used those delicate paneer roses for temples and for making garlands. The garland will remain fresh only for one day and the flowers will stay in the garland only for a few hours.

Nowadays, due to rapid commercialization, growers graft and hybridize roses according to market needs to enhance their shelf life and fragrance. 💕

At Saru’s Magizham, we are giving you all the original paneer roses as powder as much as possible. However, still trying to find the best of the best and I’m in an attempt to find the lost rare species. If any of you have the original one, Kindly let me know, so that I can try to get and multiply that variant.

FINAL THOUGHTS!

If you are able to find the original paneer rose or any native plants, please try to preserve and multiply it.

Thank you for reading!! ❤️

You can also share your memories with your native rose variety/Paneer roses in the comment below!