Which tree is called sindhu?
The mango tree. It is one of the tall outdoor trees for the South-West, and being very pure its leaves make the bandanwar for all auspicious functions.
Related questions
Ashopalav leaves look like mango leaves and are widely used in bandhanwars in Rajasthan. Can they be used instead?
No. What counts is composition and quality, not appearance; ashopalav leaves have a different composition, so they do not carry the properties of mango leaves. Mango leaves have many special qualities: their juice is used for purifying land, and where marriage is not happening or auspicious functions keep failing, mango leaf juice is applied as a lepan beneath the place where the girl or boy sleeps, after which the auspicious events take place.
A pomegranate tree stands in the South-West. What should be done?
If it is in a pot inside the house, give it away to a garden.
Can plants be kept in the West, North-West and South-West?
Certainly. Drop the idea that there should be no greenery in the North-West or South-West; gardens and resorts everywhere have greenery on all sides. A vastu expert should never get a tree cut, because its dosh falls on him; plant auspicious trees near it instead.
Mango leaves are not available abroad; what is the alternative to a mango leaf toran?
Draw five swastiks with your own hand, using kesar, on the main entrance; they become a permanent bandhanwar (toran).
Which toran should a vastu consultant (vastuvid) hang?
The teacher left it to the students; their suggestions, a mango leaf swastik toran and a toran of cow-dung cakes, were both called correct. He then gave his best (Kohinoor) bandhanwar for any wrongly placed door: make round discs of desi cow dung, draw a swastik on each, fix them on a bandhanwar strip and hang it on the main door, and the defects end. The alternative, a daily desi cow-dung lepan in front of the main door with a rangoli in the colour of its zone, is hard to keep up every day, so the permanent bandhanwar is better.
A big peepal tree stands in the North-West of my own house and my health has suffered since I moved in; is it the cause?
Yes, it definitely causes trouble; a peepal tree there harms health. If the house were rented you could simply leave; since it is your own, give it on rent and live elsewhere.