History of Kalanamak Rice
Kalanamak rice has been cultivated since the Buddhist period (600 BC). Aligarhwa (a recent time part of Siddharth Nagar) has been identified as the real Kapilvastu, the Kingdom of King Śuddhodana, father of Gautama Buddha.
Faxian (a Chinese Buddhist Monk 399-412 CE) wrote that when Buddha visited Kapilvastu (modern-day Siddharth Nagar) for the first time after enlightenment, the villagers asked for ‘prasad’ (Gift). Buddha gave some grains of this rice and asked to sow, it in a marshy place and said “It will have a typical aroma which will always remind people of me”. This variety, if sown somewhere, loses its aroma and quality. Since then, Kala Namak Rice has been grown in the region around Siddharth Nagar and Kapilvastu. This variety, if sown elsewhere, loses its aroma and quality.
During excavation in Aligarhwa (Siddharth Nagar district, Uttar Pradesh, India) carbonized rice grains resembling Kalanamak were recovered from one of the rooms, which was supposed to be the kitchen store.
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