” If I could get a beautiful face,
if I could get a beautiful mind,
I would make it and feed him the
Sadar ghat pan khili . “
However, it is difficult to say where the “Sadarghat pan” comes from Sabina Yasmin’s song. The day has changed and everything has changed with it. But this aristocratic of drinking of betel leaf was from the Mughal period to the last Nawab of Bengal, Siraj-ud-Daulah. Even today there is a practice of eating and drinking it.

Many types of betel leaf are grown in the Indian subcontinent. To make medicine from Pujaparvan, different drinks are prepared on different occasions. Some of these drinks include Bengali betel, Sanchi betel, sweet betel, rose betel, Jorda betel, Kahinur betel, Benarsi betel, and more.

Betel cultivation in Bangladesh: In the past, betel cultivation was practiced in all parts of Bangladesh. Although Dinajpur, Rangpur and Chittagong districts were famous for betel production.

Medicinal properties of the drink:
Wound healing: If betel leaf is applied to the wound site, the wound heals quickly. To eliminate bad breath: Drinking it eliminate bad breath. The level of ascorbic acid inside the mouth remains normal after drinking. As a result various diseases stay away. Teeth are cleaned by drinking it. As a result, there is no possibility of tooth decay.

To reduce sore throat: If you have sore throat, mix 5 ml juice of the leaves with a glass of hot water and drink it slowly to reduce sore throat.

Disadvantages of drinking: Drinking more is more harmful than drinking. All the qualities of drinking are lost by mixing jorda with drinking.
1) There is a possibility of cancer.
2) Drinking too much can cause mouth and eye diseases. Betel nut should not be eaten with drinking.
3) Lung infections are caused by drinking too much food.
4) Drinking too much lime damages the teeth.
5) Those who have fever and dental problems should stop drinking.

Tanjina Akhter Rifa
Faculty of Agriculture
Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University, Dhaka.
21-01-2020

Image source: Wikipedia