SOMA plant

The Rigvedic sacrificial cult in India was centered on SOMA, plant, its juice and its personified god. It was the choice drink of the gods and priests to whom it gave strength and immortality. In ancient Iranian tradition it was called Haoma. In ancient Avestan texts of Iran it was known as Haoma and the Parsis in India still use it in their worship. Soma has been identified with a variety of Ephedra that grows in the Himalayas and in the region to the north-west of India. (Photographs are available in WIKI COMMONS.)

In course of time, Soma’s identity was forgotten in India. The attached photograph is of the god Soma from Atru in eastern Rajasthan together with the Soma plant as its 10th century carver imagined it. Botanists are requested to suggest identification of the tree or plant supposed to represent Soma. (It is not Ephedra, which is like a shrub.)