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Ceremonies to precede cutting down of 50-year-old teak tree

KOTTAYAM: In an age of mindless plundering of Mother Nature, it was a rare experience. Priests chanting slokas, praying to the Vanadevatha (Forest Goddess) for the sin they were committing; apologising to Lord Garuda, the god of the birds, for the trespass they were making; pleading with the array of living things in the vicinity for taking away one of their precious possessions. All this, for cutting down a 50-year-old teak tree.

The scene is not from any period movies, but from the puja ceremony for cutting the teak tree for the proposed flag mast at Sri Mahadevar Temple at Ettumanur. It was the beginning of the end for the long search for an ideal flag mast for the temple which started just after the Devaprasnam at the temple in 2000. The Devasprasnam found that the deity was not happy with the present concrete mast, which had started showing signs of wear and tear 30 years after it was constructed.

The temple authorities had gone all the way to Tamil Nadu in search of the ideal tree. Ultimately they found it at the land of M.K. Joseph, of Maniyangattu House, Kozhuvanaal, near Pala.

“Incidentally, the area comes within the ‘poonkavanam’ of Ettumanurappan” said Raju, convener of the Flag mast Construction Committee.

Mr. Joseph remembers the tree as the only one remaining after he had cut down all other teak saplings, when he came to know that the government included teak among the list of royal trees which could not be cut down by the owner.

“Dozens of saplings planted along with this one were cut down on a single day, but when I came near to this one, my axe got broken and I left it like that,” he said. The tree now stands 68-foot tall with a girth of 76 inches at the bottom. The ceremonies to cut down the tree will be held on November 15 and 16.

The tree will be cut in such a way that it will not touch the ground. Later it will be taken to Sri Mahadevar Temple in a procession. After initial processing, it will have to be kept in specially prepared concoction containing medicinal herbs for months together before it would be used for the Lord’s flag mast.

Hundreds of devotees witnessed the ceremonies on Wednesday which was led by temple thantri Kandararu Rajeevaru.

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