Bottle Brush flower tree is known as cheel or bingi papadi in Hindi and kura in Tamil. In Hindu religion, the tree is auspicious to Muruga or Subrahmanian. The tree is found in the Thiruvidaikazhi Murugan Temple in Nagapattinam district, Tamil Nadu. There is a belief that a cobra resides in the hollow trunk of the tree.
Married women who are unable to have children tie cradle to a branch of the tree at Thiruvidaikazhi Murugan temple and their wishes are fulfilled at the earliest.
It is also believed that the devotees of the temple will never die of snake bit due to the blessing of the cobra residing in the tree in the temple.
It is believed that Murugan loves the fragrance of the flower of the Bottle Brush flower tree. The leaves of the plant are also offered to the deity.