Not to be confused with with one of the Pandavas, the heroes of of the Hindu epic Mahabharata, the medicinal tree of the same name is used for incense burning in Tibet among other things. It belongs to the Combretaceae family and bears the Latin name Terminalia chebula.

It is a deciduous tree that can grow up to 90 feet tall or more. This tree yields smallish, ribbed and nut-like fruits which are picked when still green and then pickled, boiled with a little added sugar in their own syrup or used in preserves or concoctions. The seed of the fruit, which has an elliptical shape, is an abrasive seed enveloped by a fleshy and firm pulp. It is regarded as a universal panacea in the Ayur-Vedic Medicine and in the Traditional Tibetan medicine. It is reputed to cure blindness and it is believed to inhibit the growth of malignant tumours.

In Urdu and Hindi it is called Harad, Haritaki, or Harada, respectively ‘Inknut’. In Sri Lanka it is called Aralu. In Marathi it is called as ‘Hirada’, in Kannada it is called ‘Alalekaayi’ and in Tamil it is called ‘Kadukkai’. In Bengali it is called horitoky. In Assamese it is called Xilikha. In Telugu it is called ‘Karakkaya’.

People burn the pulverized fruit to treat asthma, but they also add the pulverized bark to incense mixtures. When burned the fragrance is a very gentle, warm and woody scent.