 Have you all heard about Kalanamak rice and do you know the reason why it is also called as buddha rice to get clarified do watch this video Now first let's see a brief history of kalanamak rice See kalanamak, which literally means black salt is one of the finest quality of aromatic rice grown in India This scented variety has been cultivated since 600 BC. That is probably before the Buddhist era See kalanamak rice is also known as buddha rice as it is believed that buddha broke his fast on the day of enlightenment When keer made from kalanamak rice was offered to him So this is about the history of kalanamak rice now. Let's see the property of the rice See kalanamak is a black colored rice Traditional varieties of the rice were tall and were prone to lodging here lodging means a condition in which the top of The plant becomes very heavy because of grain formation which subsequently makes the stem weak and the plant falls on the ground The bending over of the stems near ground level of grain crops makes them very difficult to harvest and can Dramatically reduced yield. So to address this problem Recently Indian Agriculture Research Institute introduced dwarf varieties of the kalanamak rice Now coming to the geographic extent see kalanamak rice is grown widely in UP's Therai belt See the Therai or Therai is a lowland region in northern India and southern Nepal That lies south of the outer foothills of the Himalayas the shivalik hills and the north of Indo-Gangetic Plain. This lowland belt is characterized by tall grasslands, Sal forests and clay-leach swamps. So this is where the kalanamak rice grows Now, let's see few additional facts regarding kalanamak rice see it is known for its medicinal and curative properties It is rich in antioxidants and has a high anthocyanin content that helps in the prevention of heart disease and Improves the health of the skin as the rice is rich in iron and zinc it helps in regulating blood related problems Recent research has shown that kalanamak rice is excellent for diabetic patients and must be included in their daily meals See the export potential of kalanamak rice is huge The kalanamak rice commands a higher price than basmati rice by roughly about four to five times higher Due to its long-standing association with Buddha it is becoming more famous as holy rice The aroma of the kalanamak rice originating from the villages of Siddharth Nagar has now started reaching countries that practice Buddhism namely Japan Thailand Myanmar Sri Lanka and Bhutan This is all about kalanamak rice and the reasons why it is called as Buddha rice See these kinds of topics are very important for your pilgrims exam to have strong hold over current affairs Do watch Hindu news analysis of Shankara IS Academy regularly. Thank you