Orange Country & Orange Gods

The history of orange says that the fruit has its origins in India. And perhaps most of India’s oranges come from its centre – Nagpur. So somewhere in back of our minds we knew that a trip to Nagpur cannot be complete without a visit to an orange farm.

While planning for trips, we provide for on the spur changes in the itinerary and explorations. Yet visiting an orange farm was not part of our Pench plan. While we had some intention to peek into some farm while returning to Nagpur, we did not expect that we almost could go on a rampage on a farm.

As we packed our bags from Sillari, we casually checked with the driver about an orange farm. He checked with some locals and we landed up in a farm where the harvesting process had just started. Orange farmers normally sell their produce in advance. During the harvest season, the contractors camp in the farm with his laborers. They pluck, sort and pack the oranges which are then taken to the market.

Some of us tried climbing the trees and plucking a few. We could not buy any oranges at that farm since it was technically sold out, we moved to the next farm. The farm belonged to the relative of a local who accompanied us and had permissions to sell. We plucked as many we wanted and returned with a bagful of oranges.

Interestingly, true to the Indian tradition, orange harvest also starts with a prayer. At the base of an orange tree, a few oranges became a symbol of God and the workers did a traditional puja before starting.

More photos on the farm tour here.