There is a saying that "Eating amla and the words of a wise man taste sweet only later." Amla tastes astringent and bitter as soon as it is eaten, but after a while the taste in the mouth becomes sweet. Similarly, the advice of wise people may seem bitter immediately, but in the long run they prove to be very practical and useful.
Amla has been used daily in the Indian environment for thousands of years. Our elders used to live a healthy, strong and long life by using 'murabba' made from amla daily.
It is especially noteworthy that whatever things were found useful for health, they were incorporated with religion and mentioned in the religious scriptures. Regarding amla, it has been written in 'Garuda Purana' - 'A person who wants to live for a hundred years should take bath daily with water mixed with amla.'
In 'Garuda Purana' itself, there is a reference that Amla originated from the tears of Parvati and Lakshmi. From the religious point of view, this tree is considered extremely sacred. According to Indian religious and folk beliefs, Amla tree originated on Ekadashi of Shukla Paksha of Magh month, hence this Ekadashi is also called Amla Ekadashi and Hindu devotees worship Amla tree with devotion on this day.
The tradition of cooking food and consuming prasad under this tree on Chaturdashi of Kartik Shukla Paksha is also very popular, behind which there are folk beliefs that doing so liberates one from sins.
Amla was very useful in daily life for our elders. Keeping in mind the qualities of Amla, they used to consume Amla daily through Amla Kadhi, Amla Pickle, Green Chilli and Amla Longee, Amla Chutney etc. Our elders used to collect the green Amlas by boiling them, removing the seeds and drying them so that they could be used even in the season when they are unavailable. Even today, the use of Amla is seen in many houses to improve the taste of the mouth after meals by sprinkling black salt and black pepper powder on Amlas.
